Funyula Member of Parliament (MP) Wilberforce Oundo Mudenyo has strongly condemned attempts to ethnicise the recent attack on Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi in Kisumu, calling for unity between the Luhya and Luo communities amid rising political tensions.

Speaking during the Linda Mwananchi rally held in Luanda, Vihiga County on Saturday, April 25, 2026, Oundo dismissed claims linking the incident to ethnic hostility, insisting that criminal acts should not be used to divide Kenyans along tribal lines.

“Wale ambao walipiga Osotsi walikuwa wahalifu, sio wajaluo. Nataka kuambia watu wote kwamba hakuna tofauti ya mluhya na mjaluo. Sisi wote ni kitu kimoja,” Oundo told the charged crowd.

He further warned that such rhetoric risks undermining national cohesion and distracts from the real issues facing Kenyans.

Oundo went further to call for political cooperation between leaders from Western Kenya and other regions, signalling a broader push for unity within opposition ranks.

He specifically referenced Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, urging leaders to work together in what he described as a collective effort to “liberate the country”.

At the same rally, Oundo took aim at President William Ruto, accusing his administration of worsening the cost-of-living crisis.

“Sisi kama waluhya tutasimama na wakenya wote, na tukikuja mbele yenu na Sifuna wetu, nataka tusikizane tufanye kazi pamoja, tukomboe Kenya. Mheshimiwa Ruto amekandamiza wakenya sana, bei ya maisha imepanda,” he said.

Osotsi’s attackers

Oundo’s remarks come days after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that some persons of interest linked to the assault on the Vihiga Senator fled to a neighbouring country as security agencies step up efforts to track them down.

Speaking before the Committee on Administration and Internal Security in Parliament on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, Murkomen said investigators had already identified several persons of interest after images were circulated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

“The DCI circulated the pictures. As you said, some of them presented themselves. Three of them presented themselves,” he told the committee.

He added that a larger group of persons of interest escaped Kenya shortly after the incident.

“The rest of the 13 or 14 ran out of the country to the neighbouring country,” Murkomen said.

According to the CS, Kenyan authorities are now working with security agencies across the border to pursue them. He said arrests will be made once they return.

“The IG and the DCI are with them, working with the authorities in the neighbouring country. And we will arrest all of them eventually,” he said. “As soon as they step into this country, they will all be arrested,” the CS insisted.

Osotsi’s Kisumu attack

Murkomen’s comments came days after Osotsi narrated how he was attacked in Kisumu by a group of youths while at a barber shop.

The senator said the group approached him while shouting his name before turning violent and beating him unconscious.

He linked the attack to his political stance, saying the assailants questioned his position on President William Ruto’s leadership.