Seth Panyako has officially defected from Eugene Wamalwa’s Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) and rejoined the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
In a statement on Thursday, July 17, Panyako announced his return to the President William Ruto-led UDA party.
Panyako also declared he will run for the Malava constituency parliamentary seat on a UDA ticket in the 2027 General.
“I will be vying for the Member of Parliament, Malava Constituency, on the UDA Party ticket in the 2027 General Election,” Panyako announced.
At the same time, the trade unionist dismissed claims that he is interested in running for the Kakamega Senatorial seat.
Read More
“Those talking about the senator seat, that is just propaganda,” Panyako added.
Panyako’s return to UDA comes months after he lost the Malava by-election to Daniel Ndakwa, who was running on a UDA ticket.
Ndakwa won the by-election with a total of 21,564 votes, defeating Panyako, who garnered 20,210 votes.
Speaking after losing the by-election, Panyako alleged that the results were manipulated against him.
“We won in 134 out of 198 Polling stations, but still they managed to manipulate and subvert the will of the people. They used 54 Polling stations to steal the elections,” he claimed.
In May 2023, Panyako resigned from the UDA Party and joined DAP-K.
Speaking after exiting the ruling party, Panyako alleged that President Ruto called him and implored him to vacate office for opposing the party's interests.
He claimed that the Head of State told him there is no way he was going to be an official at the UDA party and at the same time oppose the Finance Bill 2023.
“I asked the President what he wanted me to do. He replied, ‘Things cannot continue this way. You will have to step down from the UDA leadership.’ I agreed and stepped down from the party’s leadership,” Panyako said in May 2023.
-1784265081.jpg)
-1784263739.jpg)
