The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has set November 27, 2025, as the date for all pending by-elections across Kenya. The move which many analysts are calling a “litmus test” for the country’s political landscape ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The comprehensive schedule, announced through two gazette notices, seeks to fill 24 vacant positions: one senatorial seat, six parliamentary seats, and 17 county assembly ward seats.
The first batch of 16 ward by-elections was gazetted on Friday, August 8, 2025. These include Angata Nanyokie Ward in Samburu County, Kariobangi North Ward in Nairobi City County, Kisa East Ward in Kakamega County, and multiple wards in Nyamira and Turkana counties.
The second batch, to be published in a special gazette on Monday, August 11, will cover the crucial Baringo County Senate seat, six National Assembly seats: Banissa, Kasipul, Magarini, Malava, Mbeere North, and Ugunja and the Kabuchai/Chwele Ward in Bungoma County.
IEBC Chairperson Erastus Ethekon assured Kenyans that the Commission remains committed to credible and transparent polls.
“We deal with actual numbers, not political noise. The Commission will not be used to manipulate any outcome,” he said.
Ethekon acknowledged that some of the seats have remained vacant for over two years due to leadership gaps and previous delays during the commission’s reconstitution.
“We are now fully operational and working even on weekends to meet constitutional timelines,” he added.
Key Timelines
Political parties must submit names of authorized party officials and details of party primaries by September 17, 2025.
Public officers intending to contest must resign within seven days of the gazette notice.
Independent candidates must submit their details by September 17, 2025 and must not have been members of a political party for at least three months before the election date.
Candidate nominations are scheduled for October 8th to 9th, 2025, with campaigns running from October 8 to November 24, 2025, between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm daily.
The IEBC will use the certified register of voters published on June 21, 2022, and has cautioned candidates against inflammatory rhetoric, pledging to safeguard the integrity of the vote.
