A legal dispute has emerged over the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominations in Kasipul Constituency, Homa Bay County, following the declaration of Boyd Were as the party’s nominee for the upcoming parliamentary by-election.

The case, filed under a certificate of urgency, has been brought before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal by Newton Onyango Ogada, who is challenging the validity of the nomination process.

Ogada is seeking orders to stop the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from accepting or gazetting Were as the duly nominated ODM candidate for the Kasipul parliamentary seat in the by-election scheduled for November 2025.

In his application, Ogada is requesting a temporary injunction to restrain the IEBC from receiving or acting upon any communication from ODM Party officials presenting Were as the party’s nominee, pending the hearing and determination of the matter.

Through his legal representatives, Ogada contends that the nomination exercise held on September 24, 2025, was marred by violence, irregularities, and a total disregard for party rules and principles of electoral fairness.

In a supporting affidavit, Ogada alleges that on polling day, between 2:00 pm and 2:30 pm, a group of armed youths affiliated with his rival attacked the Beril Medical Centre, where he and his team had gathered. The assailants reportedly smashed windows, destroyed medical equipment, vandalized vehicles, and trapped Ogada and his team inside the facility for over two hours. This, he claims, prevented him from effectively coordinating his campaign and monitoring the polling process.

Ogada further alleges widespread electoral malpractice, including; multiple voting and ballot stuffing, voters casting ballots in multiple polling stations, participation by underage voters, the absence of a verifiable party membership register.

He claims that presiding officers allowed voting based solely on presentation of national identity cards, making it possible for non-members and minors to participate in the exercise.

Moreover, Ogada accuses election officials of open bias, stating that many presiding officers and clerks were known supporters of the 5th Respondent, Boyd Were. He alleges that complaints lodged by his team were ignored or dismissed, and in several cases, his agents were forcibly removed from polling stations.

Other irregularities cited include; delayed delivery of ballot materials, followed by early closure of polling stations, unannounced merging and relocation of polling stations, poor record-keeping in incident registers, inconsistent completion of tally sheets, lack of transparency in the announcement of results, which were sometimes delivered verbally.

Ogada states that he filed an appeal with the ODM Party’s internal tribunal on September 25, but the case was dismissed on September 29 at 7:30 pm. He claims he only received the ruling the following day and is now seeking redress from the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal.

The Tribunal has certified the application urgent and ordered the matter to be mentioned on Monday.