Embakasi East Member of Parliament (MP) Babu Owino on Sunday, July 23 narrated his ordeal at the hands of police officers for the first time following his arrest at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and his subsequent release.
In a video shared on his social media pages, Owino revealed the brutal torture he was subjected to on July 18,hours before the start of the three-day Azimio la Umoja anti-government protests.
Held In Communicado
He blamed police officers for manhandling him while driving him to an undisclosed location, starving him and not giving him water. Take a shower, let alone see his family.
“I was arrested around 9 pm, handcuffed, blindfolded, and thrown in the boot of a Subaru car. I was driven into the middle of nowhere and put in solitary confinement for three days.
“For the period, I was not given food, no access to my family, my lawyers, and my legal representative. I did not take a bath, I did not take water, and that was a very inhuman treatment according to me,” he narrated.
The MP wondered how an ordinary Kenyan would be subjected to inhumane treatment if a parliamentarian could be subjected to the level of treatment he experienced during his detention.
The Embakasi East MP detailed that despite the torture, he would continue fighting for Kenyans’ rights by any means, including through anti-government protests.
“I want to take this opportunity to condemn such acts. The only mistake I made was to fight for Kenyans, and as a leader, an elected MP, I’m a voice of the voiceless.
“You can kill the messenger but not the message. You can harass the messenger, but you can never destroy the message that is being delivered. If fighting for Kenyans is what will cost me my life, so be it…I will fight for the downtrodden and for those languishing in poverty,” he vowed.
Owino affirmed that he would use his experience as a student leader to continue standing on behalf of Kenyans and oppose the government until the cost of living and prices of basic commodities.
Unbowed
He further slammed the government for claiming that Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga, was to blame for the loss of lives and destruction of property during the anti-government protests.
“Raila did not give instructions to the police to use brutal force or extrajudicial means to gag the people to fight for their inherent interests not only spiritually but religiously. Never blame Raila in this because he is not in government,” he noted.
By Rodgers Oduor
