The race to win the vacant Malava Parliamentary seat has started to take shape with so far four candidates showing interest.
This after the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party of the ruling Kenya Kwanza government finally nominated its candidate.
Kabras West Member of the Kakamega county Assembly and Minority leader David Ndakwa is expected to carry the UDA flag after he defeated his closet challenger, Ryan Malulu, son to the immediate and late MP Malulu Injendi.
Ndakwa, who vied and won on ANC party in the last general election as an MCA, garnered 6,477 votes Malulu’s 3,783 votes during an electronic voting exercise carried out last Friday in Malava. Other candidates who vied included Leonard Shimaka and Simon Kagwana.
According to the Registrar of Political Parties, ANC ceased to exist as a political party on March 7, 2025 after the party voluntarily held a special national delegate’s congress on February 7, 2025.
Earlier efforts to have a consensus amongst the four contestants flopped, a move that necessitated the conducting of primaries, amidst discontent amongst the contestants.
The Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) led by Eugene Wamalwa opted for a direct nomination that was handed over to Seth Panyako, the Secretary-General of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN).
The party is however embroiled a legal disagreement after a petition was filed by another aspirant Caleb Burudi challenging the direct nomination.
Burudi has lodged a petition before the National Appeals Tribunal –DAP-K, challenging the unilateral decision of the party leader Eugene Wamalwa to issue the direct nomination certificate to his competitor, Panyako.
The petition dated September 23 and filed through Okubasu and Munene Advocates terms the move as an example of impunity and highhandness by the party leader and that their client’s rights were trampled upon and continue to be trampled upon.
“The party leader usurped the mandate of the National Elections Board that had recommended for party primaries and overturned the same without following due procedure and also without notice,” reads a letter forwarding the petition.
The petitioner alleges that the party has ignored the principles of democracy and inclusive governance and that the procedure is against the recommendations of the National Elections Board of September 17, 2025.
Separately, the aspirant is also claiming that Panyako failed to resign from public office within the timeline required by law, rendering him ineligible to participate in party and the election itself, arguing that he should have resigned before or on August 15 as per IEBC timelines.
Panyako is a board member of the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND), but Panyako has dismissed the assertion maintaining that LAPFUND is a workers’ body and by extension he is a representative of workers.
Democracy for Citizen Party (DCP), fronted by former Deputy President Rigathti has nominated a Nairobi-based laywer, Edgar Busiega.
Other candidates in the race include Joab Manyasi of Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party. The party is led by Godfrey Kanoti and Barrack Muluka as Secretary General with Walter Mong’are as Chairperson.
Caleb Sunguti on the other hand will be vying on Roots party of Kenya led by George Wajackoyah.
In the 2022 General Elections, the late Injendi won the election by garnering 22,891 (ANC) against Panyako’s 20,133 votes ,who vied on UDA ticket, with the third candidate Joab Manyasi (ODM) getting 11,983 votes.
This time round, the ODM party, despite being the largest political party in Kakamega County, is not fielding any candidate in the by-election but has opted to throw its weight behind the UDA candidate.
IEBC has set November 27, 2025 as the date of all by-elections, with the official campaign period planned to run from October 8, to November 24, 2025.
