Just a day to the November 27, 2025, Malava parliamentary by-election, what began as a routine contest to replace the late MP Malulu Injendi has rapidly morphed into a showdown of regional political supremacy as politicians once again jostle for the 2027 elections.

On the surface, the battle is simple: United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate David Ndakwa, the government-allied candidate, versus DAP-K’s Seth Panyako, the united opposition’s consensus choice.

Beneath that, however, Malava has become a chaotic theatre where party discipline has collapsed, old friendships are fracturing, and personal vendettas are drowning out manifestos.

Candidates overshadowed

The candidates themselves have been pushed to the background. The real fight is between the region’s heavyweight politicians jostling for future dominance in Western Kenya.

Also watch: IEBC declares full readiness ahead of high-stakes Malava by-election.

Boni Khalwale vs UDA

Boni Khalwale, a long-time UDA loyalist, defied the ruling party’s stance by openly endorsing his medical colleague, Panyako.

UDA quickly threatened disciplinary action, but Khalwale has remained defiant, accusing President Ruto’s personal aide, Farouk Kibet, of ‘camping’ in Malava to impose a government puppet.

Khalwale has been the leading critic of Kibet’s presence in Malava, equating it to exerting external interference in Luhya politics.

Malala vs Natembeya

Days after the opposition reached a consensus on a single candidate, Democracy for Citizens party deputy leader Cleophas Malala accused Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya of being a government mole within the united front.

Whereas the veracity of his sentiments could not be told, the timing of Khalwale’s remarks could not have been more appropriate. It came just as DAP-K was papering over its own internal rift between Natembeya and party leader Eugene Wamalwa. Malala’s attack came as Natembeya had just joined the opposition campaign’s rally with a fanfare of its own from his Tawe Movement that appears to be rapidly gaining traction across the region.

Khalwale vs Ayub Savula

Perhaps the ugliest fracture has been the one between the Kakamega Senator Khalwale and DAP-K deputy leader, Ayub Savula.

What started as an ideological difference spiralled into personal insults as the two politicians went to unimagined lengths to mobilise support for their favourite candidates.

In a typical match shouting at rallies, the two went for each other’s jugular, with Savula branding Khalwale a spineless opportunist with no convictions; Khalwale fired back that Savula had neglected his own family and household.

 In recent days, the bitter exchange between the two leaders, who have both declared interest in the governorship role, veered into private lives, domestic issues, and character assassination.

Party lines have been abandoned, loyalties realigned overnight, and dirty linen is being washed in full public view.

Just like in the Mbeere North by-election, the actual contestants — Ndakwa and Panyako—have been rendered almost irrelevant.

Natembeya vs Mudavadi, Wetang’ula

Natembeya’s forays on the Malava campaign trail on Monday, November 23, launched yet another battleground. The firebrand governor taking a swipe at Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Speaker Moses Wetangula.

Natembeya accused the leaders of failing to use their positions in government to advocate the plight of their communities.

 He went on to put them on notice that they had overstayed their time in power as principals of the community and needed to be sent home for a fresh crop of courageous leaders to lead the community and their interests.

From what was to be a harmless democratic exercise of succession, the campaign trail in Malava is now a mighty contest among Luhya political giants, each seeking to settle scores and other forms of revenge or achieve an aim best known to him.