Junet, Babu Owino name politicians over Raila chopper attack

Investigations into the stoning of a helicopter that was carrying Azimio la Umoja presidential aspirant leader Raila Odinga last Friday have taken a new twist after MPs Junet Mohammed and Babu Owino implicated more politicians alleged to have planned the violence.

Mr Mohamed, the Suna East MP, and his Embakasi East counterpart Babu Owino, were with Mr Odinga in the chopper when it came under a hail of stones as it took off from the home of prominent farmer Jackson Kibor whose funeral they had attended.

In a statement to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) yesterday, Mr Mohamed, who was accompanied by more than a dozen legislators allied to Azimio la Umoja, said there were rowdy youth when they arrived at Kibor’s home.

Mr Odinga arrived at the home at 5:30pm on Friday, April 1, after being forced to cut short his planned rallies at Iten, 70 kilometres away, due to heckling by rowdy youth, who then attacked his entourage of vehicles.

He then flew to Kabenes to condole with Kibor’s family, while hoping to avoid another round of heckling, because the funeral had already ended and he would not have to address mourners.

Yesterday, it emerged that Mr Odinga’s entourage used a vehicle belonging to Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago to take them to the former prime minister’s chopper after they completed issuing their condolences to Kibor’s family. The chopper was parked more than a kilometre from the house.

Mr Mandago, who has since defended himself, was accused by the MPs of behaving suspiciously when they were inside Kibor’s house, excusing himself a number of times to make phone calls.

The governor also did not accompany Mr Odinga, Mr Mohamed and Mr Owino to the chopper.

In his defence, Mr Mandago who spoke to NTV ahead of Mr Mohamed and Mr Owino’s appearance at the DCI, said he was with Soy MP Caleb Kositany and Mr Odinga at Kibor’s house.

Mr Kositany and Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi have also been questioned about the attack.

“It is true I made a lot of phone calls, but one of the reasons was a vehicle belonging to one of the mourners was stolen,” said Mr Mandago.

“I remained behind because when you are a political leader, people want to talk to you for various reasons. That is why I remained behind even after giving my vehicle to the ODM leader,” he said.

In their statement to the DCI, Mr Mohamed and Mr Owino said the rowdy youth who were at the home when they arrived followed them to their chopper and overpowered the police who were at the field where the helicopter was parked. They then started throwing stones at the chopper.

The two were interrogated by officers from the Serious Crimes Unit at the DCI headquarters on Kiambu road, Nairobi, before emerging accompanied by over a dozen politicians and lawyers to address the press where they maintained that the organisers of the chaos wanted to kill them.

“You saw where the Raila was seated in the chopper and where the stone hit the windshield is the same place,” said Mr Mohamed.

“This is something that is unacceptable, something that has not happened in our country and it should not be entertained,” he said.

In Elgeyo Marakwet, Mr Adams Kipsanai, an aspirant for the Keiyo North parliamentary seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket was also questioned at the Iten DCI headquarters over claims that he was part of the organisers of Mr Odinga’s heckling last Friday.

“I was surprised by the summons because I had nothing to do with what happened on Friday,” he said.

Elgeyo Marakwet County Police Commander Patrick Lumumba said the politician was summoned to record a statement over the incident.

“I will not comment much on the matter because the investigation is still active and all those who are culpable will ultimately face the full force of the law,” he said.

A preliminary DCI report issued on Saturday shows that the youths who threw stones at Mr Odinga's entourage, including his helicopter, were incited to do so.

Additional reporting by Fred Kibor