Orengo, Babu accuses police of targeting supporters in Kisumu

The government and hired goons are intimidating and harassing supporters and mobilisers of the ODM Linda Mwanachi faction in Kisumu since the day the group held a mammoth rally there two weeks ago, their leaders have said.

Led by Siaya Governor James Orengo and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, the group now claims security agencies have been compromised and acting under external influence to target their mobilisers after the rally in the lakeside city.

The Linda Mwananchi leadership now claims senior security officers and officials in the Interior Ministry are abdicating their constitutional mandate and being used to harass, intimidate, and unlawfully arrest their political supporters, particularly in Kisumu County.

Speaking on Wednesday outside the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters along Kiambu Road in Nairobi, the duo detailed a series of arrests they described as targeted and unlawful even.

They said they had gone to the DCI headquarters to formally lodge a complaint and seek clarity on the alleged operations, but claimed they were unable to meet the Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin or his deputy. “We gave a prior notice to come here. But DCI boss Amin is not there,” Orengo said, claiming Amin’s deputy ignored them.

The allegations come amid heightened political activities, with some rallies of ODM’s Linda Mwananchi faction disrupted after teargas were lobed in the crowd and others turning chaotic. They claimed several supporters had been picked up and charged with criminal offences which they dismissed as trumped-up and politically instigated. 

Owino cited cases of two individuals; Evans Otieno and Abel Onyango who were arrested after a political rally in Vihiga and another, Gabriel Nyaoke Omar, who he claimed was apprehended in Kisumu on Tuesday, and later linked to a murder case dating back three years. 

“They arrested one of our drivers and a our bodyguard,” he said. “The officers have imposed trumped-up charges like murder and planted evidence, including firearms and ammunition, on suspects to justify arrests and prolonged detention.”  

He added: “These young men are being picked up simply because they support us politically. They are then framed with criminal charges to keep them in custody.” 

At the same time, they were accompanied by one of their supporters, Oliver Ochieng’ from Kisumu’s Nyalenda slums who they claim has been in the DCI officer’s radar since the rally. “We have brought along Oliver whom they are framing with cases of murder in Kisumu, a case he was not involved in. Right now they are hunting him like an animal,” Babu Owino claimed.

They said the victim has evidence of M-pesa messages of money sent to him by a senior officer in the Interior Ministry.

Ochieng’ maintained his innocence saying: “I decided to come here at the headquarters to know what I have done to warrant this witch-hunt and intimidation. I have been framed with cases, some of which the courts have thrown away because I am clean.”  

The Standard could not independently verify the claims. This comes barely a month after Vihiga Senator and a key member of Linda Mwananchi was attacked in Kisumu, with Orengo claiming the same goons booed him at a funeral in Seme last weekend.  

“The same boys were there shouting,” said the governor, accusing Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen of lying when he told MPs that some members of the goons had fled to neighbouring Uganda. 

He also accused senior officers within the DCI of orchestrating the arrests without the knowledge of the agency’s top leadership, claiming that directives were being issued irregularly to target individuals. 

“What we are witnessing is a situation where individuals outside the police command are deciding who should be arrested, what charges they should face, and how those cases should be handled,” he said, further faulting the National Police Service for allegedly taking instructions from individuals and offices not legally mandated to direct police operations.  

He criticised what he termed as deployment of officers from Nairobi to Kisumu to conduct arrests without involving local police leadership, arguing that such actions undermine command structures and erode accountability within the service. 

Orengo claimed the alleged interference had created an environment where “goons and gangsters” were issuing directives to police officers.