Bungoma County Commissioner Asks MP Didmus Barasa, To Surrender Before They Find Him

Following a reported incident in which he shot and murdered his opponent’s bodyguard, Bungoma County Commissioner Samuel Kimiti has encouraged beleaguered Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa to turn himself in to the police.

Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Mr. Kimiti claimed that the MP had fled the scene shortly after the incident and urged him to also turn in his gun.

The County Commissioner reportedly warned the lawmaker to stay away from the drama that would surround his arrest if they caught him after he had allegedly played cat-and-mouse with the police.

“We have ordered the police to hunt for the MP, because after he did that he just disappeared and the police are now pursuing him. But we’re telling him to surrender himself before we get a hold of him. This young man died, not because of his own fault, but because of the mistake of a leader,” said Mr. Kimiti.

“We’re telling him to surrender himself and also surrender the firearm because the ammunition is not supposed to be used to cause harm to other people. That is a misuse of a firearm, and therefore we will also confiscate it.”

The County Commissioner also urged Bungoma residents to aid the police with any information leading to Barasa’s arrest, however cautioning them against taking action on their own.

He sought to assure the residents of peace and calm as vote counting continues, saying the security forces will do everything in its power to avoid a similar incident.

“I want to appeal to the people of Bungoma to hold themselves because the government is following up on this case. We’re going to make sure that the culprit is arrested as soon as possible,” he said.

“I want to plead with them to keep peace because nobody wanted a loss of life, but because it has happened, the only thing we can do is cooperate. And I want to appeal to anybody who may be having information as to where the culprit is to share with us so that we can go there and arrest him.”

According to a police report that was made public, Barasa is accused of killing the bodyguard of Brian Khaemba, a candidate for the Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K), who has now been identified as Brian Olunga. ..