May 8, 2026
REVEALED: How Nurses Funded Panyako's Maiden Political Campaign

REVEALED: How Nurses Funded Panyako’s Maiden Political Campaign

Seth Panyako has stated that nurses contributed significantly to his Kakamega senatorial campaign in 2017, before changing his focus to the Malava parliamentary seat.

After deciding to run for senator, the nurses he had helped advocate for their rights chose to contribute to and pay for his campaigns.

Panyako revealed in an interview with a local podcast on Thursday, December 4, that he had served as head of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN), which he created in 2012, for five years beginning in 2017.

He added that Ksh15 million of the Ksh30 million he spent campaigning for the Kakamega senatorial seat came from his nursing colleagues.

He also stated that it got increasingly difficult for him to relocate for campaigns.

However, when he checked the account into which the payments were being channeled, he discovered that a million had already been contributed after hours, all by nurses.

Panyako noted that this support was extremely beneficial to him, as he frequently experienced financial challenges, and such gestures from nurses allowed him to campaign effectively.

According to him, senate campaigns, which he lost to Democracy for Citizens (DCP) party deputy leader Cleophas Malala in 2017, were less arduous than parliamentary campaigns he has recently participated in.

He further stated that nurses and other well-wishers played a crucial role in helping him pursue his dream of representing Kakamega County in the Senate.

“Nurses came in in a big way to support me; my 2017 campaign was run by nurses,” he stated.

“They supported me with over Ksh15 million, because I spent roughly over Ksh30 million.”

Adding, “I could wake up in the morning and not have money to campaign, but at midday I would have over Ksh1 million in my account.”

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Additionally, Panyako shared how the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga helped him enter politics.

He revealed that it was the late leader who encouraged him to vie after being endorsed by constituents in Malava.

The late leader later allowed him to contest on the ODM ticket, where he faced two other candidates and emerged victorious in the party primaries.

REVEALED: How Nurses Funded Panyako’s Maiden Political Campaign

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