IEBC Report: What political parties must change before fielding candidates in 2027
Written by Inka FM on 9 July 2026
Political parties seeking to field candidates in Kenya’s 2027 General Election will be required to make significant changes to their nomination processes, with compliance with the constitutional two-thirds gender rule emerging as a key requirement.
The recommendations are contained in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s (IEBC) Pre-Election Dispute Resolution (Pre-EDR) Report, released on Thursday, July 9, 2026, following a review of disputes that characterised the 2022 election cycle.
“Based on electoral reform reports and proposals preparing for the 2027 General Election, the primary constitutional requirement that political parties must comply with before submitting candidate lists is the two-thirds gender principle. Specifically, political parties must adjust their internal nomination processes to ensure that the total names of party candidates submitted to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for parliamentary elections do not consist of more than two-thirds of the same gender,“ the report stated.
Gender rule takes centre stage
According to the report, parties will be expected to restructure their nomination systems to ensure that no more than two-thirds of their parliamentary candidates are of the same gender before submitting their lists to the IEBC.
