A grassroots political mobilizer for Deputy President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) was kidnapped in Nairobi two weeks ago and his body found in Nyeri raising suspicion about the motive of his killing.
A staunch supporter of the DP, Joseph Ochieng Handa alias Obude had been at Dr Ruto’s official residence a number of times as part of the delegations from Nairobi that have pledged allegiance to the second in command.
The last time Obude was at the hustler’s mansion as the DP’s residence is popularly referred to by himself and his supporters was on December 17, which is the last time Dr Ruto met delegates from Nairobi. He had also been there some time in August last year for the same purpose.
A photograph, which was circulated by the DP’s social media team during the December visit shows Obude in a red jacket, black jeans and matching shoes shaking hands shaking hands with Dr Ruto, who was in a black kitenge shirt with green and yellow stripes plus a beige trouser.
Obude’s neighbours at his 56 area of Kawangware, Nairobi yesterday told the Nation that his political star has been rising since his meetings with the Deputy President. Although he was not vying for any political seat, the politician had somehow become the go to guy in matters UDA in Kawangware.
“He was heavily involved when the Deputy President came to Kawangware in January and in August last year,” said one of his friends.
“Since then, he has been part of the team that was popularizing the UDA party around here,” said the friend.
Apart from his involvement in politics, Obude, 28 and a father of one ran a number of small businesses in the area including shops, which he owned and rented out plus motorcycles that plied in the area.
“He was born in the ghetto and was very hardworking,” said Obude’s cousin Stephen Owuor.
Everything about his life seemed normal until he started reporting to his friends that some unknown people were threatening him some time last month.
“He is among the youth who had come out to support the hustler movement despite a lot of intimidation and threats in Dagoretti North,” said Langata Mp Nixon Korir who knew Obude.
According to Obude’s family, he had even decided to relocate for some time to their rural home in Siaya and was already in the planning process when disaster struck on February 19.
The politician was hanging out with his friends at 56 in Kawangware when armed men in a white Toyote Probox drove by and called him by name.
His mother Selina Atieno Masawa says he got a call from Obude’s friends who told him he had been picked by people who said they were police officers.
“It was about 3:30 pm,” she said.
This account corroborates Deputy President William Ruto’s digital strategist Dennis Itumbi who also said that the men who kidnapped Obude said they were police officers.
“Obude please come we talk for a minute,” Mr Itumbi said on his account of what transpired.
The matter was reported at the Muthangari police station as the family hoped to find their loved one alive.
Meanwhile they searched in all hospitals and public mortuaries around Nairobi without any success.
Their hopes were however shattered on Thursday last week when the residents of Iriani village in Othaya spotted a body floating on River Thuti, which flows through the area. The body belonging to an adult male had its eyes gouges out and several injuries on the head and torso.
They informer officers from Othaya Police station who came, picked the body and took it to the Nyeri Hospital Mortuary.
Meanwhile, Obude’s family who had almost lost hope of finding their loved one got wind of the discovery of a body in Othaya. They traveled to Nyeri where they confirmed the body belonged to their kin.
“It is very painful to lose a son,” said Obude’s mother Selina Atieno Masawa.
“Extrajudicial killings because of politics is cowardly,” said Mr Itumbi.
Obude was the third born in a family of six. His murder has since been taken up by the homicide department of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who have called for calm as they investigate what could have happened to him, in the last days of his life. BY DAILY NATION