Thieves break into late Ojode's hotel, steal and vandalise property

Remnants of property after theft and vandalism at Village Resort in Ndhiwa town on February 21, 2022. [James Omoro, Standard]

Property of unknown value was stolen, others vandalised when thugs broke into the home of former Internal Security Assistant Minister, the late Orwa Ojode’s hotel.

The gangsters raided Village Resort Hotel in Ndhiwa town this morning between 3 and 4am.

The hotel operations manager Gordon Onyango said the criminals broke into offices, vandalised CCTV cameras and stole various items.

These included two television screens, a laptop, a Wifi router, cash boxes, three gas cylinders and utensils.

Onyango said the incident occurred after a power outage.

He said they had recorded a statement at Ndhiwa Police Station.

“The incident is strange in this hotel and it is sad. The criminals might have taken advantage of the blackout,” Onyango said.

Ojode's widow, Mary Ojode urged police to investigate and arrest the suspects.

Mary who is eyeing Homa Bay Woman Rep position linked the incident to politics.

She accused un-named political opponents of destroying the property to bring her down economically.

 “The incident is condemnable and people who caused it should be arrested and prosecuted to avoid reoccurrence,” Mary said.

She claimed that unknown people blocked her on the way to the raid scene at dawn. She was travelling from her Unga village, more than eight kilometres away.

 “One of the men who was trailing me on a motorbike shouted my name. I had to branch to a nearby home,” she added.

She asked her political opponents to embrace competition based on ideology.

“We need to compete based on ideology rather than criminal acts. The ideas are what will help transform lives of Homa Bay residents,” she added.

Ndhiwa sub-county police commander Paul Rioba said police were investigating the incident.

“Our officers including DCI are on the ground to look into the matter. They are going to furnish us with the report on their findings,” Rioba said.