Police study MP aspirant’s phones amid calls for probe on assassination attempt
Police at the scene where Mombasa politician Ali Mwatsahu was shot on April 5, 2022.
Detectives investigating the attempted assassination of Mombasa politician Ali Mwatsahu are relying on a forensic analysis of his mobile phones as they continue to piece together clues in the hope of cracking the puzzle of his Tuesday night shooting. They visited the scene of the shooting at JCC Buxton in Tudor.
Yesterday, a team from the Director of Criminal Investigations Homicide Unit took over the investigations. The detectives also took all the exhibits that were found in his car and at the scene, including two mobile phones and some documents. He was alone at the time of the incident.
Police were also studying bloodstain patterns, especially the quantity and pattern of the blood on the driver’s seat.
The vehicle, which had been sprayed with bullets on its right side with some exiting through the windscreen, was towed to Makupa Police Station.
A police report seen by the Nation said the drive-by shooting forced Mr Mwatsahu to swerve, veer off the road and end up by the roadside.
The Mvita parliamentary aspirant, who wants to run on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, survived the shooting and was rushed to Aga Khan Hospital where he is recuperating after undergoing surgery.
Mr Mwatsahu, who was heading home from a mosque, was ambushed by gunmen in a vehicle who shot 22 times on the right side of his car. According to a police report, witnesses said the gunmen were in a silver Toyota Ist vehicle.
The report adds that the 60-year-old politician sustained a fracture on his right arm as well as gunshot wounds on his lower abdomen and back.
Mr Mwatsahu’s family blamed the attack on politics. Mombasa UDA Coordinator and former Senator Hassan Omar called for thorough investigations.
“I saw Mr Mwatsahu yesterday before he went into surgery and he told me that [the attack was linked to] politics. He has undergone surgery and is now in recovery in the Intensive Care Unit. Doctors removed 17 bullets from his body while three are still lodged in his stomach,” Mr Omar said.
