Man who caned Raila seeks forgiveness

Lengo Mzomba being escorted back to custody moments after he was charged with assaulting Raila Odinga/CFM NEWS
Lengo Mzomba being escorted back to custody moments after he was charged with assaulting Raila Odinga/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 30 – The man who caned former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at a public meeting in Kwale on Monday has pleaded for forgiveness.

The 40 year-old farm hand identified as Lengo Mdzomba made the plea before Kwale Resident Magistrate Christine Njagi on Tuesday as he was charged with creating a disturbance and assaulting Odinga and Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya.

Mdzomba denied the charges but expressed regret at his actions and asked that he be given a week to apologise to the two leaders.

The court however ruled that he remain in police custody until October 14 to allow the prosecution time to obtain P3 forms detailing the injuries Odinga and Mvurya sustained in the attack.

It remains unclear what drove Mdzomba to cane the two leaders as they joined Kinango residents and other Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) leaders in a dance at the launch of the Okoa Kenya referendum campaign in the county.

READ Man attacks Raila, Mvurya as they dance in Kwale

Two weeks ago President Uhuru Kenyatta forgave Migori youths who caused a disturbance at a function he presided over in the county.

READ Migori governor heckled at Uhuru function

This was after a delegation from the county, led by Migori Governor Okoth Obado, paid him a visit at State House to apologise.

READ Uhuru orders release of Migori hecklers

It remains to be seen however, if an apology will suffice to extricate Mdzomba from his current predicament.

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.