I was target of gun attack, says Enock Kibunguchy

What you need to know:

  • The MP further claimed individuals who were out to grab Likuyani forest and they perceive him as a threat in their ill motive.

  • The attackers proceeded to the hotel where the MP was clearing bills at around 9pm and ordered him to lie down.
  • The MP’s vehicle was later found abandoned at Nangili market.

Likuyani MP Enock Kibunguchy is blaming his political opponents after his driver was fatally shot by armed gangsters at a motel in Soy market, Kakamega County.

On Monday, the Ford-Kenya lawmaker said he was the prime target in the Sunday night killing by the attackers who also escaped with one his vehicle.

“The hitmen who were hired by my opponents whom I floored in the last General Election were after me,” the MP claimed without naming names.

“It is by the grace of the Lord that I survived the assassination attempt. They were targeting me. Unfortunately, the bullet hit my driver Douglas Wakachi who died on the spot,” said Dr Kibunguchy at the scene.

The incident happened as the driver ignited the engine ready to drive off the lawmaker. Dr Kibunguchy said he had instructed the driver to get the vehicle ready.

DRIVER DIED

“I was still in the hotel sorting out the bills when the driver who was already in the vehicle was confronted by the masked armed attackers,” said Dr Kibunguchy.

The attackers proceeded to the hotel where the MP was clearing bills at around 9pm and ordered him to lie down. They then fled using one of the MP’s cars after the hotel manager switched off the lights. The MP further claimed individuals who were out to grab Likuyani forest and they perceive him as a threat in their ill motive.

“Those who want to grab our forest are out to kill me so that they can proceed with their plans but I want to tell them that even if they kill me, they will not succeed,” said Dr Kibunguchy.

CONFRONTATION

Witnesses said a confrontation ensued between the gun men and the driver. In the ensuing altercation, one of the suspects pointed the gun at the driver and shot him in the head, killing him instantly.

The gangsters are reported to have panicked and fled from the hotel and headed to the MP’s vehicle. They tossed the driver’s body on the ground and drove off in the vehicle.

The MP was not accompanied by his body guard at the time of the attack but he was not harmed.

Western region DCI Mr David Cheruiyot said the thugs stole two mobile phones belonging to the MP.

The MP’s vehicle was later found abandoned at Nangili market.

SOMBRE MOOD

A sombre mood engulfed Soy the motel when the wife and the family of Mr Wakachi arrived at scene.

“We received a call from an unknown person that Kibunguchy’s driver is killed and we had to confirm because we did not know which driver it was,” she said.

“My son checked on Facebook and found out that indeed it was his dad who was killed,” said Eveline Wakachi, wife of the deceased.

She said that she has been left with eight children, three in secondary school.