A Bungoma MCA reported carjacked on Tuesday night was found unconscious near Changara Forest, Teso North constituency, on Wednesday.
Bethwel Mwambu, who represents Mbakalu ward in Tongaren constituency, was found by a boda boda operator on Wednesday.
The operator and residents informed police, who took him to hospital.
Mwambu had not been physically harmed, but was exhausted. A doctor at Lumboka Hospital in Bungoma town told the Star he may have been drugged “but he is responding well to medication.”
Mwambu, the Jubilee chief whip is said to have been carjacked at gunpoint by three men who trailed him on a motorcycle.
He was headed home with his driver Josephat Kisiangani at midnight.
Kisiangani said the trio forced him out of the car and sped off with the MCA.
The car was abandoned at Kibosi area. The incident sparked demonstrations in the ward.
Residents torched the Mbakalu chief’s office and other administration houses.
The accused police of not providing adequate security.
They said police have been harassing brewers and do not respond to distress calls in time.
The residents said many people, including boda boda operators, have been killed. Mwambu, who was elected on the New-Ford Kenya ticket, is aggressive in pushing the party’s agenda.
Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, speaker John Makali and majority leader Henry Nyongesa visited Mbakalu in solidarity with the residents.
Rumours had been circulated on WhatsApp and Facebook that Mwambu had been killed and parts of his body found in Lugari Forest.
Bungoma woman representative Reginalda Wanyonyi and some MCAs, led by Makali visited him in hospital.
Wanyonyi urged the county security committee, led by county commissioner Maalim Mohamed, to speed up investigations and apprehend the culprits.