Echoes of shame: Inside the planning of horrific Homa Bay attack on Sifuna team
Crime and Justice
By
Standard Reporter
| Sep 07, 2026
The dust might have settled on the horrific goon attack on Linda Mwananchi's convoy in Homa Bay on August 16, with the slain victims buried and the political class moving on to their next set of rallies, but the shadows of the attack are still fresh, haunting and damning.
Fresh details have emerged of how leaders entrusted to put the interests of citizens first deliberately planned and executed one of the most daring goon attacks in a blatant abuse of constitutionalism and democracy.
As the flowers placed on the graves of the four victims who perished as a result of the attack wither away, the cosmetic efforts by the police, if any, to bring suspects who unleashed terror on the Linda Mwananchi brigade to book are also rapidly fading away as the attack envelops into just another statistic on political violence for government records.
An investigation by The Standard, piecing together witness accounts and confidential sources who were actively involved in the planning and execution of the attack and first-hand accounts of survivors, has unearthed how the violence was planned, executed, as well as how the goons were rewarded after what the organisers described as a successful operation.
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At the spine of this plan was ODM chairperson Gladys Wanga, a prominent member of parliament and a senior politician from South Nyanza, who also allegedly aided the plans in the background.
The investigations established how the police were a willing participant that provided boxes of teargas canisters to goons, offered protection and intelligence, and watched as goons wreaked havoc.
Their involvement puts a sharp focus on Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, who attended a public forum with Governor Wanga in Homa Bay days before the attack, where the alleged lead executor of the plan-Abdi Sebo- issued a final chilling threat as Wanga flashed broad smiles in the background. “Those people backing one-term, even if you are here, you can go and tell them, it will be bad,” warned Abdi.
But the violence did not just happen in a bubble. It took careful planning, several meetings attended by Governor Wanga and Homa Bay Town MP Opondo Kaluma, where young men were mobilised, recruited and prepared for what they were told was a mission to prevent a rally from taking place in Homa Bay Town.
A confidential source and a youth who was part of the planning for the disruption narrated to The Standard how the operation was planned, executed and the rewards that followed. We have withheld his real name and will refer to him as Philip for security reasons.
His account contains serious allegations corroborated by the accounts of other witnesses, while police independently confirmed that one of the individuals repeatedly named in our interviews, Kassim Abdi Sebu, also known as Abdi Sebo, was wanted by police and had an outstanding warrant.
The investigation also repeatedly brought up the name Henry Ochieng, a youth leader in Homa Bay. Neither the allegations nor the repeated naming of the two men should be interpreted as proof of criminal responsibility.
According to Philip, preparations began weeks before the rally and involved huge amounts of cash as well as the distribution of weapons.
He described a series of meetings where young people were allegedly mobilised against the planned Linda Mwananchi event. One meeting, he said, took place about three weeks before the rally and another took place at Governor's Park in Homa Bay shortly before the event.
The purpose, according to his account, was to lay down strategies for how the rally would be stopped from taking place in Homa Bay town. “They told us to stop those people from getting into Homa Bay town by any force, by any strategy that we will have to use to make that rally stop,” he said.
He said that about three weeks before the rally, he attended a meeting attended by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma at Arujo area at around 10 pm, where he allegedly told them that they must ensure that the rally does not take place.
He alleged that Kaluma mobilised youths who were expected to do anything to stop the rally that was going to happen. He claimed they were later given Sh500 each after the meeting.
On August 15, the group of goons met again at the Governor’s Park in Homa Bay, where Governor Wanga, other officials and youths were present.
“At the meeting, it was agreed that we would get additional reinforcement of goons from Oyugis, Ndhiwa and Rodi Kopany,” he said.
He said that Wanga told the meeting she wanted to change Homa Bay and would not allow people attempting to challenge the existing ODM leadership to succeed. “She told us that she has support from above,” Philip said, adding that Wanga assured them that “Linda Mwananchi won't have a successful rally, and they won't be successful in whatever they are going to do.”
Philip then said the mobilisation moved from political meetings to preparations on the ground. According to him, youths were allegedly given weapons at Governor’s Park after Wanga had left. “They distributed us machetes and rungus,” he said.
He alleged that the youths were also assured that police would not interfere with them. Homa Bay County Police Commander Lawrence Koilem later denied that police were involved in organising political violence. However, during the attack, several police officers watched from a distance as the goons pelted the motorcade with stones and men in civilian clothing hurled teargas canisters.
Wanga and Kaluma have also publicly denied their alleged involvement in the attack and have instead shifted the blame to Linda Mwanainchi leaders. However, their names feature prominently in the reconstruction of the events preceding the attack.
According to Philip, the climax of the preparations happened on Saturday, August 15, hours before the rally, when Abdi Sebo and another youth identified as Henry Ochieng convened the goons at the Homa Bay bus park to deliver final instructions.
“The governor also called to find out the number of youths that had been mobilised and how they would be positioned,” he claims.
The instructions were allegedly explicit. They were to stop Linda Mwananchi supporters from reaching Homa Bay town. The meeting ended about 11 pm and instead of going home for the night, the goons spent the night in town.
Then, at about 5 am on Sunday, the operation began, and the groups moved towards different points along the roads to block the roads.
The mobilisation was done through telephone calls and personal networks. “Communication happened through calls,” Philip said. “Abdi Sebo is the one who did the communication. He is the one who mobilised.” He described Abdi Sebo as the “general” of the operation.
According to Philip, some youths were promised payments depending on the role they played. This payment system would later become an important part of his account. He claimed the youths were paid after carrying out their assignments, but before money changed hands, weapons and logistical support were allegedly provided. The amounts ranged between Sh2,000 and Sh10,000 depending on the role one played.
Philip claimed three vehicles were made available to facilitate mobilisation. Two, he said, were Toyota TX vehicles while another was a Subaru. One of the TX’s was assigned to Abdi, he claims.
As part of the preparations, he alleged, police officers also handed them two boxes of teargas canisters. The teargas canisters were hurled at Koduogo and also in Homa Bay Town.
The allegations that police were working with goons were repeated by several residents, making the conduct of security officers an important part of the investigation.
By the time the Linda Mwananchi convoy reached Koduogo, the road was no longer open since groups of youths were blocking the way and the confrontation escalated almost immediately.
Vehicles attempted to push through, others reversed, and some drivers accelerated away while passengers abandoned vehicles and ran. Women and men fled into homesteads and nearby bushes.
Those who could not move fast enough were allegedly chased. The question - “uko one-term ama two-term?” Could be heard amid the chaos.
At least four vehicles were set on fire and are now at Homa Bay Police Station; several people were injured. The convoy could not proceed to Homa Bay town since it was effectively disrupted.
But for residents along the route, the violence did not end when the convoy turned back. At the Lake Victoria Field of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, security guard Samson Epat said he witnessed people fleeing towards the compound. He was guarding the gate when he heard noise from the direction of Homa Bay. “I saw youths armed with crude weapons. They were blocking roads.”
According to Epat, people were being harassed and attacked. One vehicle, he said, tried to escape into the church compound. I opened the gate for them.”
Epat told us that the attackers followed them and stabbed the man inside the vehicle, and his wife was attacked too is not sure if his wife survived. He later learned that the man had died. “I saw one person dying in front of the church.”
The vehicle was also burnt, and Epat said he survived by telling the attackers that he was “one-term”; that's the language they could only hear. His account illustrates the atmosphere described by other witnesses: political identity allegedly becoming a matter of personal safety. The official death toll remains disputed by witnesses.
Paul Odhiambo, a receptionist at Homa Bay Tourist Hotel that was attacked a day earlier, recounted the horror they went through at the hands of the goons and how police officers turned their backs on them when they rushed to Homa Bay Police Station to seek help.
The group allegedly demanded to know whether Linda Mwananchi supporters were staying at the hotel. Odhiambo said they told the attackers that no such guests were at the hotel and the situation nevertheless escalated. The attackers allegedly turned on other guests and began throwing objects at the building, breaking windows.
Another witness, Albert, also speaking under a pseudonym, described Abdi as a powerful figure among the youths. “Abdi is the gang leader of those goons that attacked the rally.”
But when we confronted the police with the name, Commander Lawrence Koilem confirmed that Abdi was a wanted person. “Abdi has a lot of cases and has a warrant of arrest and is nowhere to be seen,” Koilem said.
Koilem said he had personally arrested Abdi twice and also added that Abdi had been summoned by the DCI after the recent violence but had not appeared.
According to Koilem, a lawyer had indicated that Abdi would be brought to the police, but he did not appear. He says further that they are still looking for him.
Koilem linked Abdi to the Tourist Hotel attack. “Abdi is the one who led the attack,” he said. However, despite the resources at his disposal, Abdi is still roaming free. Another senior officer claimed that Abdi is enjoying protection of senior politicians from the region.
At Homa Bay Police Station, Koilem said the investigation was being handled by the DCI and he rejected claims that the police were part of an organised political operation.
When contacted by The Standard, Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma rejected the allegations linking him to the planning or mobilisation of youths for the August 16 violence, describing the claims as “false, malicious and defamatory.”
Kaluma denied ever meeting or buying pangas or any other weapons for anyone to harm others. He also denied attending any meeting at Arujo, saying he had not visited the place in the past year.
“The references of and concerning me here are false, malicious and defamatory. I have never met or bought pangas or any form of weapon for anyone to harm anyone as alleged, or at all. I have never had any meeting at Arujo as falsely alleged or at all,” Kaluma said.
Kaluma also disputed the account of the violence, alleging that the people of Homa Bay were attacked by a criminal gang hired by the Linda Mwananchi team. He warned that he would take legal action against the journalist and Standard Media Group if the allegations were published.
“Treat this as a notice to sue you for damages together with the Standard Media Group if you publish the article or any false, malicious and defamatory form of and concerning me,” he said.
Kaluma further dismissed allegations linking Kassim Abdi Sebu to the violence, describing him as an ODM youth leader in Homa Bay County and insisting that claims associating him with the attacks were baseless.
“Abdi is an ODM youth leader for Homa Bay. Those connecting him to violence is total rubbish.”
Kaluma rejected the police commander’s description of Sebu as a criminal, saying he considered him a “clean man”. He further questioned the commander’s position and warned that he could take action against him over the allegations.
“Whoever the commander is saying he is a criminal, I can fire him. Who’s that? Go and tell him not to be stupid, whoever the commander is,” Kaluma said.
Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, in her response dated September 3, 2026, said every Kenyan has a right to visit Homa Bay and engage residents peacefully and within the law, regardless of political affiliation. She described the violence witnessed on August 16 as regrettable and rejected violence.
Wanga said the events should be investigated based on facts and evidence rather than political speculation, noting that the DCI had arrested 15 people along the Kisumu-Kericho highway on the eve of the activities and recovered crude weapons from them.
“To be unequivocal: political competition is legitimate; violence is not,” Wanga said. “No political disagreement licenses harm to another person, destruction of property, or interference with the rights of others.”
She said she remained committed to a peaceful and democratic Homa Bay and called for fair and balanced reporting, with all sides examined before conclusions are drawn.
Efforts to trace Abdi for comment were futile after he went into hiding following summons by DCI officers who were investigating the Homa Bay chaos.
Calls and messages to PS Omollo went unanswered by the time of going to press.