A voter in Nairobi has sued the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) after it suspended the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) process in Embakasi North constituency.
In a petition to the High Court in Nairobi, Joseph Kinuthia Nyambura urged the court to compel the commission to resume the process immediately, describing its suspension as both unconstitutional and discriminatory.
He accused the IEBC of unlawfully halting voter registration across the entire constituency after a by-election was declared in Kariobangi North Ward.
Nyambura filed an urgent application, asking the court to certify the matter as urgent and hear it ex parte.
He is seeking conservatory orders directing the IEBC to review Gazette Notice No. 12009 of August 27, 2025, which suspended voter registration in Embakasi North, and to allow the exercise to continue in all wards except Kariobangi North, where a by-election is slated for November 27, 2025, under Gazette Notice No. 11158 of August 8, 2025.
He further claims that the move by IEBC has left thousands of residents in other wards of Embakasi North who wish to register as new voters stranded, a situation he calls a violation of their political rights, which erodes public confidence in the electoral process.
“The exclusion of the entire constituency from continuous voter registration is unlawful and discriminatory,” part of the petition reads.
“It denies eligible citizens in Embakasi North the right to be registered as voters, unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the country.”
If the suspension proceeds, Nyambura argues, it will have far-reaching consequences on political participation in future elections, therefore calling for the court's intervention to avoid violations of fundamental rights and freedoms, which could compromise the integrity of the elections.
“The longer the IEBC delays in resuming voter registration, the more citizens are denied an opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights,” the petition reads in part.
This petition comes just days after the commission launched the continuous voter registration exercise on Monday, September 29, in all 290 constituencies. The exercise is set to extend to wards and Huduma Centres within the month.
IEBC is seeking to register at least 6.3 million new voters by implementing several new features, including more voter registration kits per constituency and open kits for people registering to vote in a different constituency.
The process is also expected to be faster and more efficient by carrying out pre-registration by scanning the prospective voter's identification card to capture personal details.
