Namakhele chaos and gunshots kill two just a few metres from Governor George Natembeya’s rally in a shocking midday eruption that turned a routine political rally into a bloodbath just metres from National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula’s rural homestead in Kabuchai ward, Bungoma County.
Eyewitnesses say plainclothes state operatives opened fire into a restless crowd surrounding Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya as he addressed residents at Namakhele market ground, triggering panic and leaving two young men dead and several others nursing bullet wounds.
The incident, captured in frantic phone videos now flooding WhatsApp groups, has sparked outrage and demands for immediate investigation barely 24 hours after the shots rang out.
Natembeya, on a whirlwind Western tour to drum up support ahead of 2027 as well as the Malava by-election, had barely started speaking when gunshots rent the air.
Witnesses claim people began to run, and the security detail shielded the governor and gathering, escalating within seconds when police officers fired indiscriminately.
“They shot straight into the crowd like they were hunting birds,” recounted 52-year-old trader Mary Naswa, still trembling as she described bodies dropping near a vegetable stall.
One victim, a 28-year-old boda-boda rider, and others were taken to Bungoma Referral Hospital. The location added fuel to the fury. Namakhele lies barely a few metres from Wetangula’s palatial compound, where the Speaker grew up and still hosts constituents.
Natembeya, visibly shaken in videos recorded moments after the shooting, accused “known state agents” of attempting to assassinate him. “They wanted me dead in broad daylight, in front of women and children, just because I speak truth to power,” he told journalists.
Yet locals scoff at the official line. “We know our police; those were not warning shots – they aimed to kill,” insisted village elder Peter Wamalwa, pointing to bullet casings still littering the market path.
The bloodshed has electrified an already tense Western political landscape. Ford Kenya youth leaders allied to Wetangula quickly distanced themselves, claiming Natembeya’s entourage provoked the chaos by “importing goons”.
At dusk, grief hovered over Namakhele. Mothers wailed outside the mortuary, demanding bodies for burial, while youth erected burning tyres on the Chwele-Kimilili road.
“Wetangula’s own backyard and this happens? Someone must answer,” shouted one protester, face masked against teargas remnants. Natembeya, escorted back to Kitale under heavy guard, vowed not to be silenced.