Malava By-Election Aspirant Dealt Blow

A petition has been filed seeking to bar Seth Ambusini Panyako, a Board Member at the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LAPFUND), from vying for the Malava parliamentary seat, which fell vacant following the passing of Malulu Injendi in February.
The petition, filed on behalf of fellow Malava aspirant Caleb Burudi, argued that Panyako failed to resign from public office within the timeline required by law, rendering him ineligible to participate in party nominations and the election itself.
According to the petition, the Malava MP seat was declared vacant by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC)  through Gazette Notice No. 11158 dated August 8, 2025. Based on this timeline, Panyako was expected to resign before or on August 15.
However, the petition claims that Panyako failed to honour the window to leave his post and continued to actively serve in his capacity as a LAPFUND board member.
“It has come to our client’s attention that his main challenger, one Seth Ambusini Panyako, is a public officer as a Board Member at the Local Authorities Provident Fund (Lapfund) and has not resigned to date; therefore, he is ineligible to contest for the forthcoming by-elections scheduled for November 27, 2025,” the petition read.
“He is also ineligible to participate in any party primaries and therefore his application for the ticket must be screened and rejected at this juncture.”
Evidence cited included his attendance at the Devolution Conference in Homa Bay from August 11 to August 15. There was also a LAPFUND board workshop in Naivasha between September 9 and September 12, which he was in attendance at.
The petition went on, “To this end, I call upon your office to disqualify the said Seth Ambusini Panyako from participating in DAP-K party nominations, as it is evident that he is ineligible to vie as a Member of Parliament for Malava Constituency.”
LAPFUND was established under the Local Authorities Provident Fund Act, Cap 272, and is recognised as a State Corporation operating under the County Governments Act and Urban Areas and Cities Act.
A 2021 Court of Appeal decision overturned a High Court judgment that excluded parastatals from the definition of public service, but the petitioner emphasised that the current interpretations of practice recognise board membership in such institutions as public office, effectively suggesting that working at LAPFUND came with restrictions.
This is the latest controversy surrounding the Malava by-election, coming barely 24 hours after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for Citizens Party issued a statementrefuting claims that it would not field an aspirantfor the seat.
DCP confirmed thatits candidate Edgar Busiega was firmly in the race, with the party’s Secretary General, Hezron Obaga, describing claims of withdrawal as ‘misleading’.
A number of candidates are set to battle it out for the seat, among them being Bisiega. Also in the race are Caleb Sunguti, representing the Roots Party, and Joab Manyasi from the Democratic National Alliance (DNA).
The ruling UDA party is also preparing to field a candidate through party primaries, with contenders such as Ryan Injendi (son of the late MP Malulu Injendi), Simon Kangwana Chimuche, and David Ndakwa expressing interest.