Kisumu MCA found after kidnap says he had told police his life was in danger

West Kisumu ward member of county assembly Paul Okiri. PHOTO: FILE

RONGO: The Member of Kisumu County Assembly who went missing on Thursday has said his life is still in danger after raising claims that he has been getting death threats which he has consequently been reporting to the police.

Paul Odhiambo Okwiri said his kidnapping is the making of people who want to silence his political activism.

He said he had made many reports to the police in Kisumu about threats he was receiving in his mobile phone, but nothing had been done so far to protect him.

According to the politician, there were people he never named who were tracking him and they have been issuing death threats to him.

His political activity at the Kisumu County Assembly, he said was the reason for all the troubles he was experiencing.

"The day before I met the kidnappers, I had received a call from a number which has been frequently sending me the threatening texts and the person who was speaking told me to be careful with my life if I cannot cut down my energy against the County Government," said Mr Okwiri.

The most recent he said was his outspoken role in the Kisumu County Assembly's ad hoc committee that was investigating alleged misappropriation of funds at by the Executive.

He said people who are not known have been calling him and notifying him how they were monitoring his movements, something he said he also reported to the police.

On the fateful Thursday night, Okwiri narrated that he was driving home to his Sinyolo Village at around 11pm when three people emerged from a nearby banana garden.

They accosted him and ordered him to slow down his vehicle.

"When I tried to resist, they slapped me and forced me and bundled me into the car booth, after which they blindfolded me and drove for a long while before they took me to a small room where they hid me overnight," he said.

He was driven from the room again at around 9am and after many stop overs, he was abandoned at Rongo around 8pm on Friday.

The MCA said the car was being driven by a woman whom he could not recognize immediately after being abducted.

However, no physical injuries were inflicted on him, except the mental torture which he said he was subjected to by his tormentors.

At Rongo, where he was dropped by the kidnappers, he was found by motorbike riders at Nyarach Junction, about two kilometres from Rongo Township on Friday at around 8pm.

"He was found in a state of confusion at the place before the riders brought him to the police station," said Rongo OCPD Kisaka Muganda.

Dressed in a greyish long-sleeved T-shirt, a brown pair of trousers folded to the ankles and a pair of slippers, the MCA looked shocked and pensive about the happening.

When he was found, he was walking barefoot towards the Rongo-Homa Bay Highway where the riders who were suspicious of his being there approached him before helping him to reach the Police Station where he was offered homage.

He also said the kidnappers asked him how much money he had accumulated for the 2017 election campaigns before they told him to forego his ambition of being re-elected or they kill will him instead.

"They asked so many questions to do with my being critical with some quarters of leadership and warned against trying to contest on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket in the next elections," he narrated.

Okwiri's car was found abandoned near his home with its doors open, his mobile phone and car keys intact in the personal vehicle.