Higher Education Principal Secretary Beatrice Muganda Inyangala has been identified as the Kenya Kwanza point person in the impending Malava parliamentary by-election, the People Daily has established.

Inyangala’s choice appears to be a deliberate move by the State House to stem the growing resentment elicited by the overbearing presence of Ruto’s personal secretary, Farouk Kibet, in the constituency.

Inyangala hails from Malava. She unsuccessfully contested the Kakamega deputy governorship in 2022 as running mate of Cleophas Malalah, a former area senator.

The Malava seat fell vacant following the death of MP Moses Malulu Injendi on February 17.

The mini-poll has already attracted more than 30 aspirants even before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) set the voting date.

IEBC has been riddled with controversy since January 2023 due to a lack of commissioners to oversee it’s operations after the terms of commissioners expired.

Only last week, the High Court blocked the vetting process of newly nominated commissioners following a petition by two aggrieved citizens.

Farouk was a close friend of the deceased Malava MP whom he so frequently visited at his Lugusi home in Chekuche ward.

The aide to President Ruto has been a common feature in Malava since Malulu’s demise.

He started pouring controversy when, during one of his first in the constituency, he hit out at Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, whom he purported to ban from going to the constituency.

Impose candidate

Outraged residents went up in arms to protest his presence in the area, as he too was not from Kakamega County, accusing him of plotting to impose a candidate through Ruto’s party UDA, which is not popular on the ground.

Meanwhile, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi implored electors in Malava to vote wisely when the by-election comes by voting in a leader who would unite the people and focus on development.

Mudavadi told the residents that once the IEBC is fully constituted and the date for the by-election declared it would be their civic duty to pick  the right legislator.

“Once again, Malava has an opportunity. Don’t vote in a joker. What we are witnessing in some parts of the country is as a result of the electorate not taking their civic duty seriously when choosing leaders.” Mudavadi, who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs said.

  “Please, give the forthcoming by-election very serious thought. President Ruto has shown every spirit and every direction that he is working with the people of Malava and he wants to continue working with you. Show him and show everybody that this is a serious partnership,” the former Deputy Prime Minister said.

 Key player

Mudavadi spoke on Tuesday during the burial of Mzee William Lumati, the father to recently installed Chancellor for Co-operatives University Benard Chitunga in Chilugo, Malava, Kakamega County.

 Mudavadi will be a key player in the impending by-election. The late Malulu was elected on the ticket of the Amani National Congress (ANC), a party that was previously led by Mudavadi but which has since wound up after merging with Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA). In the 2022, Malava registered the highest number of votes in favour of the president candidate William Ruto.

 Among those leading the pack of the nearly three dozen aspirants are the secretary-general of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun), Seth Panyako, Senior Assistant Inspector General (SAIG) of police Nelson Shilunji Taliti, Management Consultant and former and former senior lecturer at the Kenya School of Government (KSG) Caleb Sunguti, former Malava Boys’ High School Principal Daniel Mwachi, lawyers Edgar Busuega Mwanga, Lewis Shimaka and Leonard Shimaka as well as the son of the late MP Ryan Injendi.

 Panyako emerged a close runners-up to Malulu in the 2022 General Election. He is reportedly being sought by the top leadership of both DAP-K band and Ford-Kenya political parties led by former Defence Minister Eugene Wamalwa and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, respectively.

 Apart from Sunguti who has secured the ticket of Roots Party headed by lawyer George Wajackoya, none of the aspirants has got a nod from any of the existing political parties to run on their banner.