Kasipul by-election campaign starts with violence as IEBC clears 4 candidates

Four candidates have been cleared to run in the Kasipul Constituency by-election scheduled for November 27, 2025. Boyd Were of ODM will battle with independent candidate Philip Aroko, Sam Rateng of United Progressive Alliance and Collins Okeyo of MDG to succeed the late Ongondo Were, who was assassinated in Nairobi early this year. Constituency Returning Officer Rebecca Abwaku, who received the nomination papers at Kosele Trading Centre, called for a peaceful campaign. Boyd Were, Aroko and Rateng led their supporters through Oyugis Town, with each candidate vowing to capture the seat. The campaign is expected to be anything but peaceful. The constituency is known for violence. ODM leaders accompanied Were, who is the late Ongondo’s son, on the campaign trail. Party Chairman Gladys Wanga, Deputy Party leaders Abdulswamad Nassir and Godfrey Osotsi and Secretary General Edwin Sifuna urged voters to keep Kasipul seat in ODM hands. Boyd Were got 18,210 votes in the ODM nomination that was rejected by Newton Ogada, who received 3,037 votes.