Funerals and Campaigns: The Unwritten Rules

The written rule is short. The IEBC said on 20 August 2026 that campaigning "in places of worship or during burial ceremonies" is prohibited "throughout the election period", which opened that day and runs to the 10 August 2027 election. The unwritten rules are older: go when you have a real link to the family, give openly and modestly, speak only if asked, and keep the eulogy a eulogy. Several of 2026's biggest political announcements were made at funerals anyway, and that is the practice the IEBC now says it will sanction.

What the IEBC said

IEBC chairman Erastus Ethekon said on 20 August 2026 that violations "will attract the full sanctions provided by law", according to the Star. Under the Electoral Code of Conduct those sanctions start with formal warnings and fines. They go up to bans on public meetings in an area and, for serious breaches, barring a candidate from ongoing or future elections. The Electoral Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee sits during the campaign period. Our guide to the Code of Conduct now that the election period is open has the detail.

What politicians did at funerals in 2026

• On 28 August 2026, at a burial in Homa Bay, James Orengo (Governor, Siaya) declared he would run for president in 2027, as People Daily and the Standard reported.
• On 18 September 2026, at a burial in Central Nyakach, Kisumu, Babu Owino (Embakasi East) announced The Mwananchi Party as his vehicle for a Nairobi governor bid, Pulse reported.
• On 20 September 2026, at a funeral in Saboti, Trans Nzoia, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula urged Eugene Wamalwa to leave the opposition and join President Ruto, the Star reported.

We found no report of any of them being sanctioned. But the IEBC's warning puts the practice on record as a breach, and an aspirant just starting out should not count on the tolerance national figures have enjoyed.

The unwritten rules

1. Go to funerals in your own ward, or where you knew the family. People notice a candidate touring the burials of strangers, and they resent it.
2. Hand your contribution to the funeral committee, make sure it goes in their book, and keep your own record. Never hand cash to mourners in a line.
3. Keep the amount close to what neighbours give. A contribution far above that looks like buying attention, and it can be framed as treating; read how treating trips up candidates.
4. Speak only if the family invites you, and briefly. Talk about the person who died. If public work comes up at all, limit it to what the family needs and leave your manifesto at home.
5. Leave the T-shirts, caps and posters behind, and do not park branded vehicles at the gate. The IEBC ban on posters before 29 May 2027 applies at a funeral like anywhere else.
6. A rival's supporters are mourning too. Insults at a burial are remembered for years, and ethnic slurs are an offence wherever they are spoken.
7. A convoy of guards at a village funeral frightens people, so leave your security outside. Violence at gatherings is already a risk; see what KNCHR recorded through mid-2026.

Handling the money

For most Kenyan aspirants funeral contributions are the biggest cost nobody planned for. Put them in the budget, settle on a standard figure, and log each one. The IEBC's campaign finance regulations of 7 August 2026 require you to account for what you spend, and an entry in a funeral committee's book is good evidence of what you gave. See the costs candidates always underestimate.

When you are the family

A bereavement in your own family changes things, because mourners will expect you to speak. Keep politics out of the programme all the same, and ask your allies not to campaign from your compound. The formal campaign period opens on 29 May 2027.