MCA accused in court of staging his own abduction

West Kisumu ward member of county assembly Paul Okiri

West Kisumu Member of the County Assembly Paul Okiri has been charged with faking his own abduction and giving false reports to the police.

A court heard that on September 30, 2016, the accused made a false report at Kamagambo Police Station in Migori County that he had been kidnapped at Kapuonja village in Kisumu West and dumped in Rongo Township.

Mr Okiri has denied the charges.

During the hearing on Wednesday, a former county chief officer recounted the ordeal he went through when a mob attacked and destroyed his home, accusing him of being behind the MCA’s kidnapping.

George Anyonga told the court he was surprised when villagers linked him to Okiri’s disappearance.

“My worker told me that the MCA was missing and that mourners were shouting that I was the person behind his disappearance,” said Mr Anyonga.

He told the court he tried several times to phone the MCA since they knew each other, but was unable to reach him.

After a while, angry youths started stoning his house.

“I was inside the house at the time and I could hear them accusing me of kidnapping the area MCA and vowing to burn down my house,” said Anyonga.

Moments later, the youths started destroying his perimeter wall, prompting him to flee through a back door. They destroyed property of unknown value, including two cars.