A horrifying incident has shaken the ongoing campaigns for the fast-approaching Malava constituency by-election after villagers allegedly caught three men they accused of being hired goons sent to intimidate DAP-Kenya candidate Seth Panyako at his rural home. For more photos.
One of the suspects, identified as Dennis Mukambai, reportedly suffered severe mutilation to his genitals during the brutal mob attack before police eventually intervened.
Local sources in the Chevaywa area told bana.co.ke that the incident happened in the dead of night when residents noticed suspicious movement around Panyakos’s compound.
Villagers quickly mobilised, cornered the three men, and subjected them to instant jungle justice. Witnesses claim Dennis Mukambai confessed under duress that a senior state official paid each of them Sh500 to cause chaos and frighten the DAP-K candidate ahead of the 2025 by-election.
Photos and short video clips circulating on social media show the badly injured Mukambai being dragged half-naked through the village as furious residents rained blows and kicks on the trio.
In the most graphic scenes, villagers are reportedly seen using a crude blade to cut off Mukambai’s private parts while he screamed in agony. The two other suspects managed to escape with serious injuries, but Mukambai was left in a pool of blood until police from Chevaywa Police Station arrived hours later.
Police have launched investigations into both the alleged hiring of goons and the brutal mob justice that followed. No arrests have been made so far on the side of the villagers.
Seth Panyako, the DAP-Kenya candidate vying to replace the late Malava MP Malulu Injete, condemned the attack on his home and distanced himself from the extreme violence meted out on the suspects.
Speaking to journalists at his home on Wednesday morning, Panyako urged his supporters to remain calm and allow the police to handle the matter.
“I am shocked that anyone would send thugs to my home simply because I am exercising my democratic right to contest this seat. However, I completely condemn the cutting of anybody’s genitals or any form of mob injustice. That is not who we are as a community,” Panyako said.
Political tensions have been rising in the Malava constituency ever since the sudden death of area MP Malulu Injete triggered the by-election scheduled for mid-December 2025.
Several candidates, including Panyako on a DAP-K ticket and others backed by major coalitions, have been holding nightly rallies that sometimes turn rowdy. Residents who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed fear that the Malava by-election violence could spiral out of control if stern measures are not taken.
Many recalled similar incidents of hired goons disrupting opponents’ homes during previous by-elections. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has taken over the case and promised to get to the bottom of who exactly paid the Sh500 to the alleged goons and why Seth Panyakos’s home was targeted.
Human rights organisations have meanwhile condemned the genital mutilation as a barbaric act that has no place in modern Kenya.
As the Malava by-election date draws closer, security has been stepped up around all candidates’ homes and campaign venues to prevent any repeat of the Chevaywa night attack that left Dennis Mukambai fighting for his life after his genitals were severed by angry villagers.
