Florence Atieno, the wife to the late George Olwanda Otobe, who was killed on February 21, 2026 by a mob in Mbale, Vihiga county during the Linda Mwananchi rally.
At dawn on Saturday, February 21, Florence Atieno followed the quiet routine that has shaped her mornings for years.
She rose shortly after 5am in their home in Manyatta, Kisumu County, prepared her son for school, and cooked before leaving for work at 6am.
As she stepped out, she exchanged the familiar parting words with her husband, George Olwanda Otobe.
The late George Olwanda Otobe, who was killed in Mbale during the Linda Mwananchi rally in Kakamega.
“I said goodbye to him as usual. He told me he would go to work later, and like every morning, he gave me money for upkeep,” Ms Atieno recalls.
By midday, that ordinary farewell would become her final memory of him alive.
Ms Atieno, a waitress at a Kisumu hotel, was attending to customers when her phone rang around noon. The caller was one of her husband’s colleagues in the boda boda sector.
“He asked where I was and said he had been trying to reach my husband, but his phone wasn’t going through. He requested me to try and contact him,” she says.
Ms Atieno dialled her husband’s number repeatedly, but the phone was switched off.
“I called back the friend and told him my husband's phone was off. I explained that maybe his battery had died since he hadn’t charged it before I left,” she adds.
Moments later, the colleague called again.
Florence Atieno, the wife to the late George Olwanda Otobe, who was killed on February 21, 2026 by a mob in Mbale, Vihiga county during the Linda Mwananchi rally.
“He asked if I had reached my husband. I told him no. Then he said, ‘Your husband is dead’,” Ms Atieno recalls, fighting back tears as she sits on the verandah of Vihiga County Referral Hospital mortuary.
At first, she dismissed the shocking news as confusion.
“I hung up. I sat down for a while. I couldn’t understand what he meant. When I called him back, he insisted, ‘Olwanda is dead. You don’t know he is dead?’,” she recalls.
Distressed and disoriented, Ms Atieno was released from work by her employer, who arranged transport for her to go home. Instead, she stopped at Kisumu County Boda Boda Association office to seek clarity.
At the office, her husband's colleagues appeared unsettled. One official told her that her husband had been assaulted and was being rushed to hospital.
“I waited there until around 4pm. I was anxious. People kept calling me, asking if it was true,” Ms Atieno says.
Allegedly stabbed another man
The uncertainty deepened as images began circulating online.
“I saw a photo of him lying in a pool of blood. The caption said he was dead,” she recalls.
Soon after, a woman from Mbale in Vihiga County called with what she termed as confirmation of her husband's death.
“The woman told me my husband's body had been taken to the mortuary. That he was gone. I was devastated. I can’t even remember what happened thereafter,” she says.
The couple have two children. Their eldest daughter is in Form Four, while their son is in lower primary school.
“I haven’t broken the news to my daughter yet. The younger one is struggling to come to terms with the harsh reality,” she explains.
Mr Olwanda, 36, served as Chief of Security for the Kisumu County Boda Boda Association. His wife describes him as a quiet and disciplined man.
“He was calm. He spoke little. He was respected,” she says softly.
Jacob Ogambo, Chairperson of the Kisumu County Boda Boda Association, termed his death a profound loss.
“He was our head of security. We are demanding justice for his family and for the entire boda boda fraternity,” Mr Ogambo said.
According to Mr Ogambo, the late Olwanda had travelled to Kakamega to participate in political mobilisation activities linked to the Linda Mwananchi movement.
“He supported leaders allied to that team. When he arrived in Mbale, he was confronted by a group. One of them reportedly said, ‘Ndio huyu’ (This is the one), before he was attacked. We believe Olwanda was being followed by goons immediately after he left Kisumu,” Mr Ogambo told Daily Nation.
He maintains that the killing reflects a troubling rise in political intolerance.
“Boda boda people are not goons. We are organised. This is a democratic country. Every Kenyan has the right to support the leader of their choice. No one should be harmed because of their political stand,” he said.
Witnesses report that tensions escalated between rival political supporters in Mbale Town on Saturday. Groups aligned to the Linda Mwananchi (Protect the People) movement reportedly clashed with those backing President William Ruto’s two-term bid.
Florence Atieno, the wife to the late George Olwanda Otobe, who was killed on February 21, 2026 by a mob in Mbale, Vihiga county during the Linda Mwananchi rally.
The confrontation is said to have begun with rival chants - “one term” from one faction, countered by “two terms” from another - before descending into physical violence.
Mr Olwanda was allegedly cornered by a rival group and assaulted with wooden batons and stones. His body was later found near shops along the Kisumu–Kakamega road.
Joseph Olwanda, an uncle, questioned why his nephew was killed in Mbale if he had intended to travel to Kakamega for political activities.
“When the wife called me and stated that her husband was killed in Mbale, Vihiga County, I asked myself why he was killed in Mbale if he was supposed to be in Kakamega,” he said.
He now wonders how many more lives will be claimed by what he terms ‘dirty politics’.
“Politics will always be there, but how long will we continue losing our children in the name of ‘one term’ or ‘two terms’?” he asked.
However, police have offered a different account of the events that led to Olwanda's death.
Vihiga Sub-County Police Commander William Serengo said Mr Olwanda’s death resulted from mob justice following an altercation in which he allegedly stabbed another man, identified as Hussein Hassan.
“Members of the public turned against him after witnessing the incident and attacked him,” Mr Serengo said, adding that the injured man is receiving treatment at Vihiga County Referral Hospital.
In a statement, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) also said that Mr Olwanda allegedly stabbed Hussein Hassan in the head during a confrontation, prompting bystanders to retaliate. A knife was recovered at the scene.
The DCI further stated that preliminary investigations suggest organisers of the Linda Mwananchi rally had armed their supporters, contrary to the constitutional principles governing peaceful assembly.
A post-mortem examination established that Mr Olwanda died of multiple severe head injuries.
His body was later transferred to the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary in Kisumu on Sunday.
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