Ruto’s Political Mobilizer Abducted, Brutally Murdered and Body Dumped in a Nyeri River

A grassroots political mobilizer for Deputy President William Ruto has been found dead following his abduction last month.

The body of Joseph Ochieng Handa, alias Obude, was spotted by residents floating on River Thuti in Othaya, Nyeri county last Thursday.

Officers from Othaya police station retrieved it and took it to Nyeri County Hospital mortuary, where family later confirmed it was that of their kin. 

Nation reports that his eyes had been gouged out and had several injuries on the head and torso.

Reports indicate that Obude, a 28-year-old father of one, was hanging out with friends at 56 in Kawangware on February 19th when he was picked by armed men in a white Toyota Probox.

His mother Selina Atieno Masawa says he got a call from his friends informing her that her son was taken by people who introduced themselves as police officers. That was the last time he was seen alive.

“It was about 3:30 pm,” she said.

Obude was a grassroots mobilizer for the UDA party in Kawangware and had led a number of delegations to meetings at Ruto’s residence in Karen, including on December 17th last year.

He operated some small businesses in Kawangware including shops, which he owned and rented out as well as boda bodas.

Lang’ata MP Nixon Korir, a member of the UDA party and a close ally of Ruto, says the deceased had received threats before his abduction and killing.

“He is among the youth who had come out to support the hustler movement despite a lot of intimidation and threats in Dagoretti North,” said Korir.

Obude’s family says the deceased was also contemplating relocating to their rural home in Siaya for some time due to threats.

Investigations into his murder have been taken up by the homicide department of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).