MP Benjamin Washiali caught on camera assaulting Mumias resident

National Assembly Chief Whip Benjamin Washiali is on the spot over a video showing him beating up a villager in Mumias, Kakamega County.

The video, whose date we are yet to establish, shows Washiali slapping, punching and kicking an unidentified man along a road in a sugarcane plantation and is ably assisted by his unidentified aides.

Citizen TV contacted Washiali who only dismissed the video as “an old clip” taken way back in 2015.

He goes on to say that he took action since the culprit had been found siphoning oil from a tractor that was working in the adjacent sugarcane farm.

This claim is however not verified as we could not immediately reach the victim of the beating for his side of the story.

It is unclear when, where and in what circumstances the video was taken, but it has generated a lot of heated reactions on social media with many questioning why the lawmaker is walking free amid glaring integrity questions.

Questions remain why the 2015 video only surfaced on Sunday, January 5, 2020.

This is not the first time the Mumias East legislator is captured on camera going rogue.

During campaigns for the last General Election, Washiali was caught up in a fist fight with Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya in the presence of ODM Party leader Raila Odinga.

Many Kenyans will be watching closely how the emergence of the violent video will play out as it relates to the public conduct of a public official.

In 2012, Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza was forced to resign following reports that she had assaulted a security guard  at the Village Market mall.

It was reported that the then Deputy Chief Justice pinched the nose of a security guard Rebecca Kerubo, an incident that was not captured on camera.

As Government Chief whip in the National Assembly, MP Benjamin Washiali is considered a high ranking member of the Jubilee administration and the video showing him meting violence on a villager will raise questions of outright criminal conduct.