Cops to arrest Oduol’s wife in assault probe

By Hudson Gumbihi

Nairobi county’s most senior police officer Benson Kibue has said the wife of a politician, who reported she had allegedly been assaulted by her husband, faces arrest after she disowned her statement on radio.

Last week The Nairobian reported that Kilimani police were investigating allegations that Siaya governor hopeful William Oduol beat up his wife Christine Atieno Opondo and his teenage daughter (name withheld) at their Nairobi residence.

Kilimani Officer Commanding Police Division Peter Katam confirmed to The Nairobian that the report was indeed recorded in the station’s Occurrence Book on August 18 as OB No 22/18/08/13.    The two claimed they had various injuries due to the alleged assault and were provided with P3 forms for a police doctor to examine them. They had, however, not returned the forms to the station to help in determining if there were grounds to arrest and charge the politician.

“I can confirm we are investigating the claims,” the OCPD had told The Nairobian.

When contacted last week, Oduol denied the allegations and blamed his opponents for spreading propaganda. He questioned the timing of the article’s publication, which coincided with the August 23 election petition judgement.

Oduol, who defected from ODM to the National Agenda Party, hit the headlines in the run-up to the March 4 elections for his stand against a flawed nomination process that Oburu Odinga was said to have won. Both candidates were barred from running and the ODM ticket given to Rasanga Amoth.

His personal life has occasionally come under scrutiny with claims earlier in the year that he had beaten Nancy Oluoch, a woman he acknowledged in court as “a former girlfriend and mother of one of my children”. Oduol has, however, consistently denied the allegations. He has even sued blogger Robert Alai for defamation.

Reacting to the recent reports, he launched what appeared to be a weeklong blitz of attacks intended to question the credibility of the reports. Oduol first appeared on NTV on August 24 and said the reports were linked to the ODM propaganda machinery.  

“When you come to politics you must develop a thick skin. These allegations (of wife beating) are not new, they started in December. Actually in March they even had photos of some lady purporting to be my wife,” he said.

Reminded by host Victoria Rubadiri that the Kilimani OCPD had confirmed there was an active investigation on the complaint, he said: “Nothing like this (assault) happened. I can give you her (wife’s) number to confirm this. We were in shock. Isn’t it curious that it (the allegation) only came up yesterday (August 23) when the judgement was being done in Kisumu?”

When the TV host clarified that the complaint was actually recorded on August 18, four days before the election petition judgement, Oduol insisted: “It is all propaganda; it is all propaganda. I am not going to be cowed by this machinery that ODM is propagating.”  

And on August 26 Christine said in the morning session of the Dholuo station, Ramogi FM, that Oduol did not beat her.

It is this statement that the city police chief Kibue has taken issue with. The top cop says that anybody who gives false or misleading information to the police, no matter their social standing, cannot go unpunished.

“We will arrest her and charge her. Nobody can make false reports and get away with it. I’m picking up the matter and for sure we will investigate and take her to court once we confirm the statements she made,” he said.

Kibue further confirmed that the OB entry, number 22/18/08/13 had been reported by Oduol’s wife and daughter. It is unclear why she denied this in the morning radio show.

Under the Penal Code on false written statement, officers have the power to arrest Christine.