I was pursued by three strangers, doctor says at commission hearing

A medical doctor yesterday narrated to the commission probing a petition to dissolve the Makueni County government how he was accosted and forcefully taken to the assembly by strangers who demanded he remove bullets from victims of a shooting incident at the chambers.

Emmanuel Loiposha, the deputy medical superintendent at Makueni County Referral Hospital in Wote town, told the commission he was driving to deliver the bullets to the Wote CID office as evidence when he was waylaid.

Dr Loiposha said he was among six doctors who operated on victims of the gun drama witnessed at the assembly on September 23, 2014.

"One victim had a bullet lodged in the shoulder while the other had bullets in his pelvis," Loipasha recalled.

He said after the bullets were removed, they were concealed in a polythene bag and he was tasked to deliver them to the CID office.

The doctor said on his way to the station, he noticed two saloon cars following him. One overtook him and blocked his path while the other remained behind.

"Three men dressed in suits came out of the car and demanded the bullets, saying they had been sent by the Speaker who wanted to see them," he told the commission, adding when he declined, the men sandwiched him between the two cars and 'herded' him to the assembly grounds.

"At the assembly, they questioned me further and took photographs. But I did not see the Speaker, which raised my suspicions and I decided to look for the Health executive to explain what was happening," he said.

Loipasha said he later left for the police station and was surprised to find the three strangers already there. He said he handed the bullets to the DCIO but curiously, was not asked to record a statement.

Security reasons

Loipasha also told the commission that the same three men showed up on several occasions in the hospital ward where the gun victims were admitted, forcing the hospital administration to transfer them to Nairobi for security reasons.

The fierce gun drama at the county assembly is a hot issue that has cropped up more than once during the proceedings.

The incident led to heightened tension between the assembly and executive, especially after Governor Kivutha Kibwana claimed the shooting was intended to eliminate him.