Violence erupts at Homa Bay County Assembly, journalist injured

A journalist was seriously injured at the Homa Bay County Assembly on Tuesday morning as police battled rowdy youth who stormed the premises.

Standard Media Group journalist James Omoro was caught up in the melee between police and alleged hired goons who sneaked into the County Assembly offices at around 5am.

A policeman is said to have assaulted him and broke his camera. He was rushed to hospital.

Reports indicate that the goons had been hired to secure the Majority Leader’s office which is at the center of a bitter leadership row between ousted Majority Leader Richard Ogindo and his successor Walter Were.

The three-hour long drama forced police officers to use tear gas to disperse the gang that was forcing its way into Mr. Were’s office.

Reinforcement from Kendu Bay, Rangwe, Nthiwa and Mbita police stations was called in to help handle the situation that was threatening to get out of hand.

MCAs allied to Mr. Ogindo, led by Kojwang MCA Joan Ogada and her counterpart Monoflorita Ondiek said they resulted to the drastic measures to prevent themselves from being blocked by MCAs allied to Mr. Were from accessing the assembly.

Mr. Omoro recorded a statement with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Homa Bay police station.

Homa Bay County Police commander Marius Tum launched investigations into the matter promising to take action against the officer who assaulted Mr. Omoro.