MALAVA, Kenya – DAP-Kenya’s Malava parliamentary candidate, Seth Panyako, has been detained at Malava Police Station just hours after surviving an alleged coordinated attack and the vandalism of his vehicles.
According to the party, Panyako was apprehended after he went to report the attack to police.
DAP-K described the incident as a targeted attempt to intimidate their candidate.
“Our candidate, Seth Panyako, has been apprehended and is currently being held at Malava Police Station,” the party said in a statement. “This comes even after he and our agents were terrorised, injured, and had property destroyed by goons under police supervision. We will not allow it.”
Our Candidate Seth Panyako has been arrested and is currently being held at Malava Police Station. This even after goons under police supervision terrorised him the whole night, injured our agents, destroyed property and now they want to intimidate him. We will not allow!
Panyako had earlier raised alarms about being trailed by unidentified individuals, alleging a plot to eliminate him ahead of the by-election.
Speaking to the press after casting his vote at St Joseph Lunyu Primary School, he claimed his perceived popularity in pre-election polls made him a target.
“The government candidate was only polling at 24 percent yesterday,” Panyako said. “The only way for the government candidate to win is to take me out.”
He accused unidentified government-affiliated individuals of orchestrating attacks to prevent him from participating in the mini-polls, which have drawn national attention as a key test of political dominance in Kakamega County.
The by-election follows the death of Malulu Injendi earlier this year and pits Panyako against United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate David Ndakwa.
The contest is closely watched as a gauge of strength between the united opposition and the government in the region.
