How to Organise a Town Hall That Isn't a Rally

A town hall is a meeting where voters ask the questions and the candidate answers them, in a room small enough for both to be heard. To organise one, book a neutral venue for 50 to 200 people and collect questions in advance and at the door. The moderator should be someone who is not on your payroll. Keep your opening to five minutes and write down every commitment you make. The IEBC has said open campaigning is prohibited before 29 May 2027, so the event has to be a genuine forum and cannot be a rally squeezed into a smaller room.

Why bother

A rally shows a crowd. A town hall shows voters how the candidate thinks. It costs less and is easier to secure, and it produces something a rally rarely does: a list, in voters' own words, of what people in one place care about.

After the deaths at the Nembure meeting in Embu on 12 September 2026, many campaigns have good reason to prefer rooms to stadiums. Our security planning guide applies here too.

Choosing the venue

A social hall, a school hall outside school hours or a community centre all work. Avoid churches and mosques. IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon said on 20 August 2026 that campaigning in places of worship is prohibited before 29 May 2027, though a faith group can host a civic forum somewhere else; see how to be invited back to church, mosque and chama.

Everyone should have a seat. You need one microphone for the floor and one for the stage. If the venue is a public place, notify the police under the Public Order Act.

Running order

Open with five minutes at most: who you are, which seat, three things you want to do. Then hand over to the moderator, who picks the questions, alternating between written ones and raised hands, men and women, young and old.

Keep each answer to two minutes. When you do not know something, say so and promise to come back with it. In the closing minute, repeat what you heard and leave the slogans out.

Ninety minutes is long enough. Start on time, because the people who came on time are the ones you want.

The moderator

Choose someone the room respects who is not on your campaign staff, for example a retired teacher, a local journalist, a church elder or a youth leader. They keep answers short and stop anyone, your own supporters included, from hogging the microphone. Without an independent moderator the event is just another campaign meeting.

Prepare for the questions you will get

Read the county's plans before you go. The county integrated development plan and the budget tell you what has been promised and what has been spent, and our guides to reading the CIDP and ten questions about the county budget are good preparation. An MCA aspirant should know the ward's allocation.

Someone will ask about your party's national leader. Answer in one sentence and bring it back to the seat you are seeking.

Staying inside the rules

The law does not yet draw a clear line between a civic forum and a campaign event. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 would define and prohibit early campaigning, but we had not seen a report of its passage by 23 September 2026. In the meantime, keep the event about issues and questions. Leave out campaign posters, branded giveaways and any "vote for me" close, and record the meeting so you can show what happened.

County public participation forums on budgets and plans are also legitimate places to be seen engaging. See why public participation is a legal requirement.

After the town hall

Within a week, text everyone who left a phone number with the three main issues raised and what you plan to do about each. Every question goes into your issues file, and one that comes up at three town halls belongs in your manifesto. Call the people who asked hard questions. Some of them will turn into your best volunteers.