Homa Bay Deputy Governor Magwanga claims his life is in danger after gun attack

**Homa Bay Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga addressing journalists in his home at Kabuor Village in Kasipul Constituency on May 12, 2025.** [James Omoro, Standard]

Homa Bay Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga has complained that his life is in danger following gunfire exchange between his security officers and gangsters.

The Sunday night incident occurred when a group of gangsters suspected to have been hired to assassinate Magwanga reportedly attempted to attack him on Sunday night.

According to Magwanga, he was returning to his home at Kabuor village, East Kamagak Ward in Kasipul Constituency at about 9pm when he got intelligence information that some people were trailing him. That time, Magwanga was still many some kilometres away from home.

He decided to take a different route to his home.

Magwanga travelled and arrived home safely through the unusual route.

Meanwhile, he had earlier alerted his security officers who were at home to go and receive him.

When the security officers were still travelling in his vehicle on the normal route he had diverted from, they met a gang that was armed with an unknown number of firearms.

Upon seeing the vehicle, the gangsters moved a few metres away and began shooting at the vehicle.

This forced Magwanga’s security officer to shoot to repulse the gang.

The gangsters finally ran away and disappeared into the nearby bushes.

Addressing journalists in his home on Monday, Magwanga attributed the attack to plans to assassinate him.

The Deputy Governor said the attack came after he had received some threats in the last two weeks, especially after the death of Kasipul MP Ong’ondo Were.

According to Magwanga, he never took the threats seriously, but the Sunday attack meant that the threats were real.

“I received threats after the death of our MP, but I took them lightly. This attack has given me a red signal that the threats were real,” said Magwanga.

He said the threats were both verbal and written.

“I am now going to treat the threats with due consideration,” he added.

The Deputy Governor said he had informed police who had visited the scene.

He urged the police to investigate the matter and give them their findings.

“Police have come to my home and started their investigations. I hope they will investigate the matter and give us findings,” added Magwanga.

The Deputy Governor said he was not planning to resign. He said he had got information from social media that MCAs were planning to impeach him.

“I have no intention to resign. I have also heard that MCAs want to impeach me, but I have no problem with that because there is no crime I have committed in the office,” added Magwanga.

Kasipul Politician Newton Ogada urged police to expedite the investigations to avoid a repeat of what happened to the slain MP Were. Ogada said Were complained that his life was in danger, but no action was taken until he was killed.

“Were complained that people were threatening his life, but there was silence until he was killed. Let our security agencies intervene swiftly in this matter to avoid a repeat of what happened to Were,” Ogada said.

He told Homa Bay Politicians to maintain peace instead of violence.

“Violence or murder cannot solve any problem. Let political leaders in Homa Bay County be united, and I call on religious leaders to unite them through prayer,” added Ogada.

Homa Bay County Police Commander Lawrence Koilem said they had taken various investigative agencies on the ground to probe the matter.

Koilem said they had taken the matter seriously by beefing up Magwanga’s security.

“Our investigative officers are on the ground, and we hope they will unravel what happened. Meanwhile, we have beefed up Magwanga’s security by adding more officers because we don’t want to see a repeat of what happened before,” said Koilem.

He urged residents to avoid speculations and give police adequate time to conduct investigations into the matter.