Seth Panyako gets major boost as Brian Lishenga joins his Malava campaign trail
By Mabonga Makhanu, November 2, 2025It’s indeed a huge boost for Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Chair Seth Panyako as the Rural Urban Private Hospitals Authority (RUPHA) Chair Brian Lishenga joins his campaign trail in Malava Constituency.
In a statement shared on his social media channels on Sunday, November 2, 2025, Lishenga announced that he will accompany Panyako of the Democratic Action Party (DAP-K) in his bid to popularise his candidacy in the constituency ahead of the November 27, 2025, by-election.
Brian Lishenga, who has been critical of the government over its failure to disburse funds to private health facilities owed to them by the Social Health Authority (SHA), will first attend a joint church service with Seth Panyako at Chemche Ward at PAG Maramu between 11:00 AM and 12:30 PM before proceeding to East Kabras at the African Church of the Holy Spirit from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.
“Dr Brian Lishenga’s Sunday, November 2, 2025, Itinerary, Malava Constituency 1. Chemuche Ward – 11 am-12:30 pm. East Kabras Ward – 1-2pm,” a statement by Lishenga said.
This comes days after Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) candidate Edgar Busiega stepped down to support Panyako.
This came after calls from DAP-K urging DCP to withdraw their candidate in accordance with the spirit of united opposition and zoning, where a party with regional dominance is allowed to field a candidate, with the rest of the constituent parties of the united opposition backing the fronted candidate.
With DAP-K enjoying some following in the Western region, they urged their sister party DCP to withdraw their candidate to avoid splitting votes.
Busiega, who was being fronted by DCP Deputy Party Leader Cleophas Malala and was being taken around the constituency to popularize his bid, agreed to step aside and vowed to support his former rival unconditionally.
Leaders supporting Panyako
Seth Panyako has been gaining support after another Kakamega leader, Senator Boni Khalwale, ditched the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate David Ndakwa in favour of Panyako, saying he was deeply pained by the president’s decision not to rally behind Seth, who helped him garner votes in Malava in 2022.
This has led to Khalwale receiving a disciplinary letter from his party for going against the party’s position.
Recently, former Lugari MP and he who unsuccessfully contested for the Kakamega gubernatorial seat, Cyrus Jirongo, also threw his weight behind Seth Panyako.
Brian Lishenga, who becomes the latest to announce his support for Seth, unsuccessfully contested for the Kakamega senatorial position on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket and lost to Boni Khalwale, who defeated him by a wide margin.