Baraza still on the run after opponent’s aide shot
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa was yesterday on the run even as police set up a special team to hunt him down.
The special team, from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was dispatched to Bungoma County on Tuesday night to arrest the MP following reports he had fatally shot an aide to his opponent for the parliamentary seat, Brian Khaemba of the Democratic Alliance Party (DAP) – Kenya.
Barasa is alleged to have shot the aide identified as Brian Olunga on the forehead outside the Chebukwabi polling station where they had gone to witness the vote tallying.
The MP is said to have accosted his opponent outside the polling station and ordered them not to leave but Khaemba’s driver attempted to drive away, prompting Barasa to open fire, shooting Olunga on the forehead. Olunga is said to have died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Asked to surrender
DAP-K officials led by Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa demanded Barasa’s immediate arrest and arraignment for murder while Khaemba and former Kimilili MP Suleiman Murunga demanded the electoral commission withholds the results until justice is served to the deceased’s family.
Area county commissioner Samuel Kimiti said they had given the MP until yesterday to surrender to police with immediate effect.
‘’We have given him 24 hours to surrender before we go for him,’’ warned Kimiti.
Meanwhile, it is calm and quiet in Kenya’s western city of Kisumu, the political base of presidential frontrunner Raila Odinga.
Residents are keenly following the results from their phones and radios.
Business is slowly coming back to normal - most were closed on Tuesday for election day. Shops and restaurants are now open, and motorcycle taxis - known as boda bodas - are back on the road.
A few hawkers are selling whistles and vuvuzelas in anticipation of what they hope will be Odinga’s victory. They say they will blow their voices away if and when the electoral commission announces him as the winner.
Additional reporting by BBC
