The man who caused a scare by hitting Cord leader Raila Odinga
with a walking stick can now be named — he is Mr Lengo Karisa Mdzomba, a
labourer.
Mr Mdzomba appeared before a Kwale court on
Tuesday and was charged with causing bodily harm to Mr Odinga and Kwale
Governor Salim Mvurya at an Okoa Kenya rally in Kinango.
He was also charged with creating a disturbance at Baraza Park in the same town.
Dressed in a dark blue shirt, grey khaki shorts and green bathroom slippers, Mr Mdzomba looked subdued and walked with a limp.
His employers described him as a poor, disabled old man who wouldn’t harm a fly.
However,
he showed quite some spirit in court exchanges. Mr Mdzomba finally
pleaded guilty to three charges, but not before putting up an argument
and losing his cool when he was required to take a plea at 4.30pm.
SEPARATE CHARGE
Asked
to plead to the first count of “beating Raila Amolo Odinga and causing
him bodily harm”, Mr Mdzomba asked for one week to apologise to the
people he had assaulted.
At this point, he was cut short by the court clerk, who instructed him to take the plea.
“I admit guilt because I don’t want to bother the court,” he said, adding that after all, the matter was already in the media.
He said he also wanted more time before taking the plea so that he could consult with his relatives “who live far away”.
When
the second count of assaulting Mr Mvurya was read, Mr Mdzomba, who
comes from Kaloleni in Kilifi County, appeared surprised and wondered
aloud why it was a separate charge.
“I don’t understand why there are two charges.”
PLEADS GUILTY
He pleaded guilty all the same.
To
the charge of causing a disturbance, an irritated Mr Mdzomba snapped:
“I am only admitting guilt because I do not want to bother the court.”
The
magistrate ruled that the case be mentioned on October 14 to give
prosecutor George Mungai time to communicate with Mr Odinga and Mr
Mvurya.
The officer said he needed two weeks to compile
a full report that would include P3 forms, which he hoped the two
leaders will have filled.
When he was informed of the
court’s ruling, a resigned Mr Mdzomba appeared to say something, then
changed his mind and just nodded his head in affirmation.
Mr Mdzomba was detained at Kinango Police Station after his arrest.
KIND WORDS
His employer and neighbours at Dzitenge in Kinango Town described him as a humble, polite, reserved and respectful fellow.
Police
gave Mr Mdzomba’s age as 40 years and his home as Kilifi County. He has
been working for three years as a labourer for the family of Mrs Nasim
Issa.
The family only had kind words about the man they described as sane, respectful, dignified and a teetotaller.
“He
worked for us for a year as a young man before he returned (to his)
home in Kilifi only to emerge about three months ago asking that we
accommodate him as he looked for his relative, who he said works at
Kinango Hospital,” Mrs Issa, 60, told the Nation at her home.
She
said the family later decided to employ him as a servant and he had
been taking care of Mrs Issa’s 90-year-old mother, who is ailing.
“I
have known him to be a very polite person,” the elderly woman said. “He
is very respectful and does not drink or smoke. Neither does he have
mental problems that I know of.”
DID NOT LIKE WHAT HE HEARD
Explaining
the incident that has thrown the haggard-looking man into the national
limelight, Mrs Issa said she was shocked to learn from neighbours and
television reports that Mr Mdzomba had actually attended the Okoa Kenya
campaign rally at Kinango market and attacked Mr Odinga.
“I met him around noon seated outside the room where he sleeps,” she recalled. “I asked him, ‘Wewe huendi kwenye mkutano waCord?’ (Are you not attending the Cord rally?)”.
She said he responded that he had already made an appearance at the meeting and did not like what he had heard.
She quoted him as saying: “Wanasema wanataka kuokoaKenya,lakiniKenyaimeshaokolewa. Wanataka kuokoa nini? Wanaoendelea kuteseka ni wananchi.
(They say they want to save Kenya, yet Kenya is already free; what do
they want to free? The ordinary people are the ones suffering).”
Mrs
Issa said he singled out hunger, disease and poor services from doctors
“who are yet to be paid their salaries” as some of the afflictions
“killing the people”.
She said the man did not give any sign that he had been involved in a security scare. But, she added, he appeared bitter.
“I
got to hear the news at the shops in the evening, but did not believe
it until this morning when I was summoned by the assistant chief to
appear before the police and the deputy regional commissioner,” she
said.
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