The Linda Mwananchi faction has refuted claims that Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi was in the company of someone’s wife when he was assaulted in Kisumu.

The leaders disclosed that Osotsi, who was brutally attacked by a gang of more than 15 men, was meeting his senate office staff when the incident happened at Java restaurant.

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Soon after the reports of the attack emerged, reports of a love triangle began streaming online, with some bloggers claiming the Senator was in the company of an unidentified married woman.

The Linda Mwancnahi group, however, blamed what they called ‘ bloggers’ for trying to push a narrative of a love triangle as a cover-up for the politically motivated attack.

“There are some bloggers who are attempting to push a cheap narrative of a love triangle just like they do in other high-profile cases. We know who the thugs were and who sent them,” Kitutu Chache South MP Antoney Kibagendi said.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who leads the Linda Mwananchi group, revealed that Osotsi had just sat down with his female staff when the goons accosted him in the Wednesday morning incident.

“As you know, Senator Osotsi is vying for the Vihiga Governor seat, and he was meeting a member of staff to discuss his county issues when the attack happened,” Sifuna said.

The leaders were speaking at the Karen hospital last night shortly after visiting the Senator, who was airlifted from Kisumu by air ambulance. The airlifting was organised by the parliament.

Osotsi was received at the Wilson Airport by Senate Minority Leader Steward Madzayo, Sifuna, ex-minister Raphael Tuju, MPs Kibagendi, Clive Gisairo, Majimbo Kalasinga, Wilberforce Oundo, Julius Mawathe, Joshua Kimilu, among others. DAPK leader Egune Wamalwa joined them at Karen hospital.

At the Karen hospital, the Senator was visibly in pain and narrated to his colleagues the events before the incident, saying he had gone to Acacia Mall to have a haircut, after which he met a group of youths with whom he had a brief, friendly chat.

He then left the youth after ‘buying them tea’ and left to have a chat with his staff. At a restaurant, the Senator called his bodyguard and sent him to an M-Pesa shop.

It’s during this moment that the group, as seen in CCTV cameras, entered the premises and began raining blows on the defenceless politician.

Doctors said he was stable but will undergo further scans this morning to ascertain injuries inflicted on him on his head, even as leaders demanded that the thugs be arrested immediately.

“The speed with which they arrested our colleague Kibagendi when an incident happened at Java, should be the same speed with which the goons must be arrested,” Gisairo said.

While regretting the incident, Sifuna described it as an isolated case which does not reflect the hospitality of the people of Kisumu.

“This could have happened to any one of us. Most of us leaders from Western counties patronise the same Java or any other Java across the country. This is not how the people of Kisumu are. These are thugs who were hired by people in government,” he said.

The leaders demanded that the Interior Ministry issue a statement on the emerging and worrying issue of political gangs.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has since condemned the brazen attack, saying that detectives are seized of the matter and actively pursuing critical leads.

“The DCI is fully committed to getting to the bottom of this matter and will ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice,” DCI said in a statement, adding, “At this stage, the motive behind the attack has not been established.”