Murder suspect Didmus Barasa tweets, puts detectives on his trail

A tweet by fugitive Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa last night has put the police hot on his trail as the detectives follow the cyber trail to determine his location.

Bungoma County Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss, Mr Joseph Ondoro, told the Nation that the MP posted a cryptic message on Twitter last night.

"Last night he was on Twitter. We are still following close leads that will lead to his arrest," said Mr Ondoro.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji on Wednesday directed the police to arrest Mr Barasa who is suspected of fatally shooting Brian Olunga who was a security aide to Mr Bryan Khaemba who was challenging the MP for the Kimilili parliamentary seat.

The incident took place on Tuesday, August 9, a few hours after polls closed.

“The MP will run but won't hide from the law,” said Mr Ondoro.

Giving it to a stranger

Last night the returning officer for the Kimilili Constituency George Omondi declared Mr Barasa the winner in the election but refused to hand over the certificate to his agent who had shown up on his behalf.

The returning officer demanded that the MP personally goes for the certificate.

"He should come and collect this certificate by himself. We are not giving it to a stranger," the returning officer said.

Mr Barasa, a UDA candidate, won the Kimilili parliamentary seat with 26,000 votes but celebrations have been muted in the constituency.

The police had earlier tried to trace Mr Barasa using his mobile phone but it seems that approach was abandoned.

Police suspect the MP may have abandoned his phone at some point as he escaped after the incident.

The last signal from the phone was picked around Cheptais, in Mt Elgon constituency, signalling that the MP was on the move in the general direction of the Kenya-Uganda border. But that trail seems to have gone cold.

The tweet, therefore, gives an opening that the detectives can follow.