The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has confirmed that all the 24 pending by-elections across the country will be concluded before the end of 2025, and maintained that the next General Election will be held in August 2027 as scheduled.

IEBC chairperson Erastus Ethekon said the commission’s elections operations committee is finalising the timelines for the mini polls, and a detailed calendar will be made public within a week.

He explained that the electoral body is working to ensure all outstanding by-elections are concluded within this year.

“We will announce the calendar for the by-elections in a week or so and finalise all of them in the course of the year,” said Ethekon. “The elections operations committee will give a way forward on how we will conduct the mini polls. We are working round the clock to ensure we meet the timelines.”

Seven of the by-elections are for parliamentary seats, while the remaining 17 are for ward representatives in counties. The commission revealed that some of these seats have remained vacant for more than two years. Ethekon clarified that previous writs had lapsed, and Parliament is expected to issue fresh ones to formally declare the vacancies and initiate the by-election process.

According to Article 101(4)(b) of the Constitution, a by-election must take place within 90 days after the Speaker issues a writ, except when the vacancy occurs within six months to the next General Election.

The seven parliamentary vacancies include six National Assembly constituencies—Ugenya, Kasipul, Mbeere North, Banisa, Magarini, and Malava—and the Baringo Senate seat. While the IEBC needs over Sh1 billion to conduct all the by-elections, it has only received Sh788 million so far.

Ethekon noted that the IEBC secretariat is already engaging Parliament and the National Treasury to secure the additional funds required for the polls.

The IEBC also announced the leadership structure of its various internal committees. Vice-chairperson Fahima Abdallah will lead the finance and procurement committee, while commissioner Ann Nderitu will head the election operations committee.

Moses Alutalala will be in charge of voter education, partnerships, stakeholder engagement and communication. Mary Karen Sorobit will lead the legal and compliance committee, while Prof Francis Aduol will chair the boundaries, delimitation and ICT committee.

The human resource committee will be led by Hassan Noor Hassan.

On the timing of the next General Election, Ethekon said it will be held in August 2027, unless there is a lawful court ruling to change the date.

This comes in the wake of a case filed by three petitioners asking the court to declare that the next presidential election should be conducted in August 2026.

Responding to claims by some politicians that they would “do everything including stealing votes” to ensure President William Ruto is re-elected, Ethekon dismissed such remarks and assured the public that the commission will uphold integrity.

“The new Commission will be open and transparent and will not ‘tint its windows from inside’,” he said.