Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna./HANDOUTThe Linda Mwananchi movement has accused security officers and local political leaders of failing to prevent violence that disrupted its tour of Homa Bay County on Sunday, August 16, 2026.
In a statement issued after the tour, the movement described the incidents as a coordinated campaign of violence and intimidation against its leaders and supporters.
The group alleged that the violence was not a spontaneous breakdown of law and order, but a deliberate operation involving people it said included police officers and individuals it believed were state security operatives.
“Yesterday, the Linda Mwananchi leadership and our supporters were subjected to a coordinated, premeditated campaign of violence and intimidation during our tour of Homa Bay County,” the statement said.
The movement said its convoy encountered blocked roads from the border of Kisumu and Homa Bay counties. It said similar incidents occurred at the Homa Bay-Migori and Migori-Kisii borders.
According to the statement, the convoy could hardly travel two kilometres within Homa Bay County without encountering either a barricade or a police roadblock.
The group further alleged that some police officers appeared to operate alongside people attacking the convoy instead of protecting its supporters.
“Rather than standing between citizens and those perpetrating violence, some officers appeared to facilitate the disruption and intimidation of our supporters,” it said.
Linda Mwananchi said the most serious incident involved armed individuals positioned in bushes along the route who, according to the movement, fired directly at its convoy.
“This was not crowd chaos. It was an ambush!” the statement said.
The movement also claimed that some individuals involved in the attacks had been transported to Homa Bay from Kisumu, Siaya, Migori, Kisii and Nairobi to disrupt its tour and endanger its leaders and supporters.
In Nyandiwa, the group said its supporters apprehended a man who was travelling with some of the attackers in an unmarked black Toyota Prado.
The movement said the man identified himself as an officer of a security agency after being questioned. It also said his mobile phone was taken into its custody and remained there.
The group said it had since received calls to the phone from people identifying themselves as senior police officers and demanding its return.
“Since then, our team has received a continuous stream of calls to that phone from individuals identifying themselves as senior police officers, demanding its return,” the statement said.
Linda Mwananchi said it was treating the phone as evidence and would consult its legal team on the next steps, including engagement with independent oversight and investigative bodies.
The movement also said lives were lost during the violence and that several vehicles were burnt or extensively damaged.
It said 18 people had been treated as of Sunday, with 12 evacuated to Kisumu for specialised medical care. According to the statement, seven people had been discharged, two were undergoing surgery, one had undergone a leg amputation and two had died from their injuries.
“We grieve with every family affected by yesterday's violence. Their loss must not be reduced to a footnote in Kenya’s political history,” the movement said.
The group argued that violence on such a scale could not occur without coordination, local knowledge of routes and movements, access to resources and political protection.
It called on Homa Bay county leaders whose names had emerged in connection with the events to publicly account for their roles, if any.
“Silence will be read as complicity,” the statement said.
The movement also acknowledged that not all police officers in Homa Bay acted in the same way. It thanked officers stationed in Nyandiwa and Sindo who, it said, refused to participate in efforts to disrupt its rallies.
Linda Mwananchi also thanked medical facilities in Homa Bay and Kisumu for treating injured supporters and said they had upheld their professional and ethical duty to treat patients fairly and without discrimination.
The movement praised MPs Millie Odhiambo and Ruth Adhiambo Odinga for publicly condemning the political violence before and after it occurred.
It also thanked journalists who remained in the area and continued reporting despite being targeted during the unrest.
“To the journalists who stayed and reported despite being targeted themselves: thank you,” the statement said.
