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Kisii violence: Postmortem reveals what killed 'Mapinduzi'
Vincent Osiemo a.k.a Mapinduzi, a passionate young democracy advocate and cameraman, died from severe head injuries after falling from a speeding SUV that was trying to escape a organised hail of stones hurled by suspected hired political goons in Keumbu during the Linda Mwanachi rally.
Vincent Osiemo, also known as Mapinduzi, died from severe head injuries caused by a blunt force trauma to the head, a postmortem report indicates.
Dr Peter Morebu, who performed the postmortem on Monday at Chiron Hospital in Kisii, has informed the Nation that the deceased had a head injury, specifically a skull fracture on the right side. He also had internal bleeding in his brain.
Osiemo sustained injuries during an attack by suspected political goons on Linda Mwananchi leaders at Keumbu in Kisii County on Friday.
He fell from a speeding vehicle that was trying to evade a hailstorm of stones, having lost his grip on the vehicle he was holding onto after stones were hurled at him and the Linda Mwananchi motorcade by the suspected goons.
"The injuries on the deceased were confined to the head and were caused by a blunt object, which could have been a stone or a rungu," said Dr Morebu.
Osiemo worked as a cameraman for a local politician in Bobasi. On that fateful day, he joined the Linda Mwananchi team, which was in Kisii for a series of rallies.
As the team left Kisii town for Keroka via Keumbu in Nyaribari Chache after a successful rally, they encountered suspected hired political goons who had blocked the main Kisii-Nairobi highway.
Videos available online show Osiemo falling from a speeding vehicle, and soon after, suspected goons attacking him with jembe handles and stoning him.
After a thorough beating, he walked off limping and was later rushed by well-wishers to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.
"Initially when we rushed him to hospital, he appeared stable, but his condition deteriorated quickly, and he even stopped talking. We took him to the Intensive Care Unit, but he succumbed," said a relative.
"Mob violence"
According to the police report, the circumstances of death are that on July 3, 2026, at Keumbu market, Osiemo was a victim of mob violence after being beaten by unknown assailants.
At Osiemo's home in Gionseri village, Bobasi Constituency, Kisii County, mourners continue to gather to pay their tributes.
Osiemo, 36, was a young man known across Kisii for his passion for politics and his desire for democratic systems that care for and value Kenyans.
Meanwhile, seven suspects arrested in connection with the violent attack were arraigned before a Kisii Magistrate’s Court but did not take pleas after their case files were reported missing.
The magistrate ordered police officers to return the suspects to the court cells until the files are produced.
Elsewhere, Keumbu residents have intensified their crackdown on suspected goons, with several arrests made Monday night.
Traders at Keumbu are crying foul after an online campaign calling on people to boycott buying foodstuffs at the usually busy market continues to affect them. Some of the traders are being accused of reportedly joining the suspected hired goons to cause chaos.
The traders asked for forgiveness, stating that the Keumbu market is their only source of income and that they should not be punished for something they were not a part of, even as they condemned the violence.
Meanwhile, Nyaribari Chache Member of Parliament Zaheer Jhanda is yet to appear before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) offices in Kisii County to assist with the ongoing investigations.
“Furthermore, Hon Zaheer Jhanda, MP for Nyaribari Chache, has this morning been summoned to appear before the Kisii County DCI office in connection with the ongoing investigations,” stated the National Police Service (NPS) on Monday.
The NPS said detectives are pursuing additional leads to establish the full circumstances surrounding the attack and identify any other suspects.
In its statement, the NPS said: “The National Police Service wishes to provide a further update on the ongoing investigations and security operation following the violent attacks that occurred at Keumbu, along the Kisii–Keroka Road, on Friday, July 3, 2026. The operation, led by the OCS Keumbu and DCI Kisii Central, has resulted in the successful arrest of four additional suspects, bringing the total number of arrests to seven.”
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