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A Mombasa businessman-cum-politician has escaped to another country following what he calls threats to his life.
Francis Oundo, a clearing and forwarding agent who also unsuccessfully vied for the Changamwe MCA seat in 2017 and 2022, said unknown people have been trailing him since December last year.
“They have been coming to my estate looking for my house. They got my wife’s number and have been asking her about my whereabouts. I don’t know what they want with me,” said Oundo from an undisclosed place before flying out on Sunday evening.
He reported the matter at Mikindani police station under OB No. 46/02/06/2023.
Oundo said he first got wind that unknown people are looking for him after a friend, Fred Oucho, who was mistaken for him contacted him while he was in India for treatment in December last year.
“They grabbed my friend who is also in my line of business and who is also in politics. They thought he was me,” said Oundo.
The businessman said the group of about five men bundled his friend into a saloon car and drove him around for hours while blindfolded before they stopped at a house in an unknown place.
“They interrogated my friend for a while before they realized he was not the person they were looking for,” said Oundo.
The gang of about five then bundled him into a car before doing the same routine, driving him around for hours before abandoning him at Changamwe roundabout at around 2am.
“Luckily, my friend pretended he did not know me and did not rat me out,” said Oundo.
The businessman-cum-politician has been laying low since then until a few weeks ago when the men started making phone calls to his wife asking for him.
He said he suspects the men are connected to another incident where he was tricked into travelling to Eldoret where he was to meet a supposed client who ostensibly wanted to buy a fleet of cars through him.
“I travelled all the way to Eldoret but it turned out it was a scam and I lost Sh400,000,” said Oundo.
He reported the matter at Eldoret police station but soon after he started getting calls to “stop whatever he was doing with the police”.
“I had a very difficult time thinking whether to drop the whole issue and forego my money or press on with it and risk my life,” said Oundo.
Human rights activist Bradley Ouna, the Concerned Citizens Kenya executive director, said police must act on the report by Oundo and work towards protecting his life.
“I fear that something may happen to Oundo and his young family is the one that will suffer if nothing is done,” said Ouna.
He called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to act swiftly and ensure they track and arrest the people who have been making phone calls to Oundo’s wife.
“This is a serious matter that deserves to be treated as so,” said Ouna.
When contacted, Jomvu sub-county police commander Lydia Wanjiru referred the Star to Mombasa county commander Stephen Matu who said he was yet to be briefed on the matter but would get back later after emerging from a meeting he was engaged in. BY THE STAR