The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has flagged a report circulating that it plans to clean up the voters’ register ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement on Saturday, July 5, 2025, the IEBC secretariat stated that the commission has neither a chairperson nor commissioners currently, and such information should be treated as null and void.

“Please note that the Commission currently neither has a chairperson nor members of the Commission. Therefore, any information circulating on social media is null and void,” IEBC said.

Fake post

The fake post had elicited several reactions from unsuspecting social media users, including Homa Bay Township MP Opondo Kaluma, who seemed to have concurred with the impending fake register clean-up exercise.

“They don’t have numbers; they have millions dead and multiple registrations on the voter register. On voting day, they stuff the presidential ballot with all the votes taken to their regions! You can all remember the Tharaka Nithi “votes” which overturned Raila’s 1.4 million win in 2007,” Kaluma quoted the fake post.

On June 10, 2025, President William Ruto gazetted the appointment of Erastus Edung Ethekon as the new chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

According to the notice, the president has appointed Ethekon to take up the mantle as chairperson of the commission for a term of six years, a period during which the IEBC will be expected to recalibrate its credibility and reinforce public trust in electoral processes.

Chairperson and commissioners

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 250 (2) with Section 5 (2) of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act and Paragraph 4 of the First Schedule to the Act, I, William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, appoint—Erastus Edung’ Ethekon to be the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission for a period of six (6) years,” the gazette read in part.

In a separate but concurrent notice—Gazette Notice No. 7725—Ruto also unveiled the names of six individuals appointed as Commissioners of the IEBC, each of whom will serve alongside the new Chairperson for the same six-year term.

They were Ann Njeri Nderitu, Moses Atua Mukhwana, Mary Karen, Hasan Noor Hassan, Francis Odhiambo Aduol, and Fahima Araphat.