Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip has defended himself against accusation that he and his associates seriously battered a man last weekend.
A video of the badly injured David Waweru has since gone viral on social media. In the video, Waweru accuses the senator and his brother only identified as Mody and two of the senator’s lackeys of attacking him.
Waweru, a local artist known by many as King David said yesterday that he was accosted by two known associates of the senator whom he only identified as Boi and Remmy.
They asked him to board their motorcycle for a ride to a shopping centre in Mpeketoni to buy cigarettes
He suspected something was wrong when they sped past the shopping centre.
He said his attempts to jump off were futile as the two told him that the senator wanted to see him urgently.
“I was sitting between Remmy who was riding and Boi who was behind me. When they didn’t stop at the shopping centre and increased speed, I knew they were up to something. I told them I had nothing to speak with the senator, but they said they don’t care,” he said.
Waweru says when they arrived and upon alighting at the senator’s residence, the senator’s brother, who he only identified as Mody, pounced on him and began strangling him with a rope.
“The senator then stood up and began kicking me on the head and telling me that I would pay for opposing his political ambitions. At this time all of them descended on me and kicked me till I thought I would die.” He was left unconscious.
He added: “I don’t understand why he would do that to me; it’s unfair.”
The senator denied assaulting the man and instead said the artist had trespassed on his property and was trying to spy on him when he encountered his security team.
He termed the incident as political witch-hunt by individuals out to tarnish his reputation.
“There has been rumours circulating around the media, that I Senator Anwar Loitiptip was involved in an assault incident. I want to make a point clear, people are trying tarnish my name.
“The so-called individual trespassed and spied on my house, little did he know the security personnel were around,” he said.
“I want to send a strong message to my political enemies that I won’t accept to be disrespected and my life put in danger,” the senator said adding that the police were keenly following up on the issue.
The senator suffered a huge blow mid last year after the Court of Appeal nullified his 2017 poll victory citing irregularities.
This was after a successful petition by Hassan Abdalla Albeity following a High Court ruling that had upheld the election win.
In his petition, Albeity argued that the High Court erred in law by failing to scrutinise the votes such as those cast at Kinagwe Primary School polling station.
He appealed the ruling and the case is yet to be determined. Evidence presented showed that there were more votes cast than the number of registered voters.
The irregularities, they ruled, were bound to affect the outcome of the results considering that vote difference was only 58.