Wajir East MP Rashid Amin on the spot over assault on Gedi
What you need to know:
- Mr Amin allegedly punched Ms Gedi on her face twice, leaving her bleeding, before he was held back by Wajir West MP Ahmed Kolosh.
- He accused the MP, who is a member of the Budget and Appropriation Committee, of failing to allocate money to his constituency.
- Ms Wanga, who witnessed the incident, said she was with Ms Gedi when they met Mr Amin at the parking lot.
Wajir East MP Rashid Amin is on the spot for allegedly assaulting Wajir Woman Representative Fatuma Gedi at Parliament buildings.
The incident happened Thursday at Parliament’s parking lot five minutes to 10am.
Ms Gedi, who was in the company of Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga, was going for a committee meeting at Protection House which is situated outside Parliament buildings when Mr Amin accosted her.
Mr Amin accused the MP, who is a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, of failing to allocate money to his constituency during the recent committee visit to Wajir County.
PUNCHED
After a few minutes, Mr Amin allegedly punched Ms Gedi on her face twice, leaving her bleeding, before he was held back by Wajir West MP Ahmed Kolosh.
Speaking to Nation at Parliament Police Station where she recorded a statement, Ms Gedi said Mr Amin accused her of leaving his constituency out of the budgetary allocation.
Ms Gedi recorded a statement on the assault at Parliamnet Police Station. PHOTO | SAMWEL OWINO NATION MEDIA GROUP
“I was just walking with my colleague Ms Wanga when he accosted me and started calling me stupid and within minutes he punched me on the cheek,” Ms Gedi said.
“I told him that Wajir County was only allocated Sh100 million and we had to allocate money to only areas of priority to the region like water and roads but he told me that was nonsense,” Ms Gedi added.
WITNESSED INCIDENT
Ms Wanga, who witnessed the incident, said she was with Ms Gedi when they met Mr Amin at the parking lot.
“I stood aside and gave them space as they started talking in their local dialect but within a few minutes, I saw Mr Amin punching my colleague and she started crying and bleeding,” Ms Wanga said.
“I could not believe that a male colleague could assault his female colleague,” Ms Wanga added.
Ms Gedi was rushed to Karen Hospital for treatment and later went to a Nairobi police doctor.
When reached for a comment, Mr Amin who after the incident attended a Public Investment Committee meeting, only said “I will respond to the police for now treat that report as rumours.”
The matter is recorded at Parliament Police Station as OB/20/13/6/2019.
Following the incident, all women MPs walked out of the Budget speech sitting of Parliament Thursday afternoon to protest the assault of Ms Gedi.
At the same time, National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi asked the police to investigate the assault, arrest and charge the Wajir East MP if found to have assaulted Ms Gedi.
