Man who caned Raila Odinga in 2014 seeks forgiveness as he pays tribute to fallen leader
The attack occurred on September 29, 2014, during an Okoa Kenya rally in Kinango, organised by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), which was advocating for a proposed constitutional referendum.
The man who shocked the nation in 2014 by striking former Prime Minister Raila Odinga with a cane during an Okoa Kenya political rally in Kinango, Kwale County, has expressed deep remorse and sought forgiveness for his actions.
Speaking to NTV, Lengo Karissa Mudzomba, now 65, said he had long wished to personally apologise to Raila but never had the opportunity before the late opposition leader’s passing. He described Raila as a “beacon of democracy” whose loss Kenya will dearly feel.
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The attack occurred on September 29, 2014, during an Okoa Kenya rally in Kinango, organised by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), which was advocating for a proposed constitutional referendum.
Raila and then-Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya, now Sports Cabinet Secretary, were participating in a traditional coastal dance when Mudzomba ambushed them with a walking stick, shocking rallygoers. Security personnel quickly subdued him, preventing any serious injury.
At the time, reports indicated that Mudzomba was mentally unstable. Both Raila and Mvurya forgave him, leading to the withdrawal of assault charges. The incident, however, made national headlines and remains a widely remembered moment in Kenya’s political history.
In his interview, Mudzomba openly reflected on the moment. “You know, I have a problem that sometimes troubles my mind, and when it does, I am no longer myself,” he explained.
He recalled that on that day, he suddenly felt an adrenaline rush and lost control of himself.
"The next thing, I felt like my fingers were on fire. I raised my walking stick and caned them. I asked myself, what are these people doing, dancing carelessly? I did not see them as human beings," he said.
And after that, he said he wondered what he had done. "I asked myself what I had just done," he said.
He said he had woken up that morning as usual, taken tea, and gone to attend the rally like everyone else.
"When the thought came to my mind that I should cane them, I was ready to kill or be killed. I just found myself doing something wrong. Later, when someone asked me why I had disrupted the meeting, I realised that's how the devil uses people to do his work.”
Reflecting on Raila’s legacy, Mudzomba said, “I caned him. Now my uncle, Raila, has died and gone. I feel very bad—it has pained me. But what can I do? We are only human.”
He praised Raila’s contribution to Kenya’s democracy and urged Kenyans to remember him as a hero of this generation.
“Many people did not understand the reasoning behind the difficult decisions he used to make. He was a good person. Kenyans should have given him a chance to lead this country as president,” he said.
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