An aspirant eyeing the Mvita parliamentary seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket survived an assassination attempt by unknown gunmen in the early morning hours of Wednesday, April 6.
Despite suffering 20 gunshot wounds, Ali Mwatsau managed to escape out of his vehicle that was sprayed with bullets - an account by his family members revealed the trick he used to save his life.
Speaking to the media, a relative intimated that Mwatsau was driving from Bamburi i in Mombasa County, where he and his family shared a meal after breaking the fast and headed to Tudor. However, just before he got home, he was ambushed by armed gunmen in two vehicles.
"I was him in Bamburi, where we broke the first together before he left for Tudor, but before he got there, he was accosted by men in two vehicles. They opened fire at him, literally spraying his car with bullets," she narrated.
Borrowing a leaf from a James Bond film, Mwatsau decided to fool the attackers. He played dead, intentionally ramming his vehicle into a tree; this, he hoped, would convince the perpetrators that the job had been done.
The guns went silent and the vehicles disappeared into the darkness. Backed by an adrenaline rush and not feeling the impact of the bullet, he managed to unlock the doors and crawl out of his car.
A three-wheeler taxi driver who was driving along the road saw the aspirant struggle and offered a helping hand. As he was assisted onto the tuk-tuk and to their disbelief, he saw the two vehicles approaching - they noticed he was still alive.
"He then alighted his vehicle, a tuk-tuk driver saw him and decided to help him. It appears that the assailants had not gone far and noticed that he was still alive, they started driving back towards the crime scene," she added.
The driver got into the vehicle and sped off towards the Aga Khan hospital. On their trail were two vehicles, chasing after them in what soon degenerated into a car chase.
They managed to get to the hospital in time, stopping only at the emergency entrance and screaming for help. On noticing their target was surrounded by medics, the hitmen drove off.
"When they reached the hospital, he alighted at the emergency and began screaming for help. The commotion made people rush to help him, causing the assailants to drive off," the relative told the media.
Former Mombasa senator Hassan Omar Hassan intimated that the UDA aspirant was immediately taken to the theatre where doctors managed to remove 17 bullets.
"After receiving first aid, he went through a CT scan and underwent surgery and 17 bullets have so far been removed. However, three more bullets remain lodged in his stomach," the ex-senator noted.
His family insists that Mwatsau's life was still in danger. The police have stated that they have begun investigating the matter and that the motive of the incident is yet to be established.
The matter reached the office of the Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i who condemned the act. He asked the public to be patient as the investigating agencies probe the matter and strongly advised against speculation.
"I will ask them to be patient and respect the institutions that we have in place. We have smart people working in the security sector who are helping us, let us not be speculative," Matiang'i stated.
