I hit Raila because huge handouts did not reach me, attack suspect says

Lengo Karisa Mudzomba, the man who whipped CORD leader Raila Odinga in Kinango has explained why he decided to hit the former Prime Minister and Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya.

Mr Mudzomba said he was annoyed by the fact that “huge handouts that were being dished out were not reaching me”.

The remorseful Mudzomba was speaking to his employer, Nassim Issa, who described Mudzomba as a polite and law-abiding citizen.

Ms Issa yesterday said she knew Mudzomba as a harmless man who “has never insulted anyone since I employed him three months ago”.

Issa narrated how on Monday, Mudzomba had returned home fuming and when she asked what the problem was, he retorted that he was upset about the Okoa Kenya campaign.

“He asked me what we have to okoa (salvage) when almost everything was going wrong. He was disappointed that teachers and nurses were demanding pay hikes when people are dying of hunger,” she added.

Issa said the 40-year-old had never shown any signs of mental illness and was always cheerful.

She added that the man people claimed was annoyed because his wife danced “suggestively” was not married.

But Issa’s description of her employee was in sharp contrast to the man captured on camera whipping the CORD leader and the Kwale governor.

Meanwhile, police have been given two weeks to produce legal documents as evidence that Raila was assaulted in Kwale on Monday.

Yesterday, the prosecution successfully applied for the court to give the police two weeks so that the P3 forms could be filled in a case where Mudzomba is charged with assaulting Raila and Mvurya.

According to the charge sheet, the case was filed by James Mwamongo Dena on behalf of CORD while Richard Munyoki and Rashid Bora are listed as witnesses. Mudzomba is accused of assaulting the two leaders, causing bodily harm.

Before Kwale Resident Magistrate Christin Njagi, the stunned Mudzombo said, “Because I don’t want to waste your time as you have come with the Press, I will just plead guilty but I urge the court to give me one week to seek forgiveness from the two.”

 BREACH OF PEACE

The first charge sheet on the first count states, “On September 29 at about 1300 hours at Barasa Park in Kinango, you unlawfully assaulted Hon Raila Amolo Odinga, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.”

In the second count, Mudzomba is accused of assaulting “Hon Salim Mvurya, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.” The third count states that he acted in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace, or violence by hitting the two leaders. Ms Njagi ordered the accused to appear in court on October 14, when police will be required to produce evidence against him.

The magistrate did not rule on Mudzomba’s request.

Earlier, Kinango Sub-county Commissioner Moses Ivuto told journalists in Kwale that Mudzomba would face assault charges.

Mr Ivuto said Mudzomba comes from Jibana in Kilifi County but had moved to Zitenge after getting a job as a gardener.

“During the interrogation, he said he tried to get a handout from the dignitaries at the Okoa Kenya rally but was unsuccessful. That was when he decided to commit the crime,” said Ivuto.

He said Mudzomba was arrested yesterday morning in his employer’s compound as he went about his work even as hard questions continue to emerge regarding the security of dignitaries.