The military carrying Raila Odinga's body./FILE
There was drama when a bodyguard attached to the
Kakamega County governor, Fernandez Barasa, was robbed of his pistol loaded
with 15 bullets during the burial event of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga
in Bondo, Siaya County.
He was also left bruised as he struggled in vain to recover the weapon, police said.
The constable of police attached to the General Service Unit at the Headquarters, Ruaraka, and currently attached to VIP Protection of the Kakamega Governor reported that he was robbed of the weapon at about 4.30 pm.
This was as the burial event ended and the body was being moved from an open field to the home for the interment.
He was in the company of four other police officers and were leaving the ceremony at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) at the main gate when the weapon was snatched from him.
He said while boarding the Governor’s official vehicle, rowdy youth who had gathered around the Governor snatched his Jericho pistol loaded with 15 rounds from its holster and ran away from the scene.
Efforts to arrest and recover the stolen firearm were fruitless because of the crowd was massive and had turned rowdy.
Efforts have been put in place to recover the stolen firearm, police said. Police suspect the robbers behind the incident had escaped the area, but efforts to trace them were ongoing Monday.
Several other people complained of losing their valuables at the event. Some of those present had disguised themselves as mourners as they embarked on a robbery spree.
More security personnel had to be mobilised and sent to the area to manage crowds that turned up for the event. Some of those who were locked out of the funeral event at the university turned rowdy and chaotic in the town, robbing locals.
Others forced their way into Opoda Farm, where the burial event was taking place, and disrupted it for several minutes in the name of following cultural practices.
The military are among those that deployed special forces to the area to help in addressing the crowd. At least five people were killed in separate places as they struggled to view Raila’s body.
Three of them were shot and killed at the Kasarani Stadium, while two others died in a stampede at the Nyayo National Stadium. More than 300 people were injured in the incidents.
Some of them are still in hospitals with multiple injuries. Police said they had been overwhelmed by the mob.
