Two killed, several hurt in Narok demonstration

At least two people were killed, two police officers and six protestors seriously injured Monday when Narok residents defied a Government ban on demonstrations against their Governor Samuel Tunai.

The protests flew in the face of mediation efforts by President Uhuru Kenyatta who had asked the feuding leaders to amicably resolve their disagreements, and were held in defiance of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Nkaissery's ban on public demonstrations in the county over insecurity concerns.

The two protestors were allegedly shot dead by police who had been overwhelmed by the mob led by four Members of Parliament Moitalel ole Kenta (Narok North), Korei Lemein (Narok South), Patrick Ntutu (Narok West), Johana Ngeno (Emurwa Dikir) and Senator Stephen ole Ntutu to present the governor with a memorandum detailing their grievances.

Narok North police chief Paul Letting and a General Service Unit (GSU) officer were among the injured. Letting sustained serious head injuries and was admitted to an undisclosed facility within Narok town while the other people injured were admitted to Narok County Referral Hospital.

Medics who attended to those injured and who declined to be named said two victims sustained serious gun wounds with broken limbs while six others sustained soft tissue injuries.

Bullet wounds

"One of the two who had serious bullet wounds is at the theatre in a critical condition," said a source at the hospital.

While condemning the politicians behind the protest and particularly the attack on the police, Mr Tunai said only one person had died and six were injured.

"These injuries were as a result of the angry mob attacking the police that were at work at the county offices. It is unfortunate that some leaders would incite peace-loving residents to the extent of misadvising them to engage in criminal acts of attacking police officers on duty," said Tunai.

He added: "The scuffle and the resultant injuries were a product of police engaging in self-defence when they were attacked by the irate mob."

Police officers, backed by aerial surveillance from a helicopter owned by Kenya Forest Service (KFS), were detailed to restrain protestors from accessing the county government offices.

Clad in striped red shukas, the protestors led by their leaders chanting "Tunai must go" marched from Total area at around 10am where they had converged to the county head offices, about seven kilometres away. Their leaders at this point sought to present the memorandum to the governor who was not in the office but they failed.

They staged a sit-in for about an hour but were later repulsed by anti-riot police using tear gas and bullets only for them to regroup and start pelting security officers with stones and other crude weapons.

Before marching to the county offices, their leaders had beseeched the protestors to be peaceful.

Monday's protest, which had on Sunday been banned by Nkaissery, was a culmination of three months of differences between the governor and a section of leaders who wanted him out of office over claims of mismanaging the county.

Leaders opposed to Tunai first held a rally last October on the outskirts of Narok town demanding he quits, claiming that since he was elected he could not account for billions of shillings from tourism activities in Masai Mara Game Reserve, devolved funds from the national government, and markets and other sources.

Last month, they held another rally at Ololulung'a where they gave the governor 14 days to leave office for "not being accountable to the electorate".

But before the lapse of the ultimatum, President Uhuru met the leaders at State House in Nairobi to try and defuse tension that was building up ahead of another meeting which they later called off. Those in the delegation included all the four MPs as well as former Heritage Minister William Ntimama, former Kenya's ambassador to China Julius Sunkuli, his brother Andrew Sunkuli, former Transport and Licensing Board Chair Hassan Kamwaro and 13 former county council chairmen.

The President told them to give the relevant arms of government three weeks to carry out thorough investigations into their claims of financial impropriety and alleged skewed employment at the county among others. The President promised to take action upon receiving the probe report.

Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Osman Warfa, who over the weekend went to Narok to investigate the fresh row, said both camps were seeking to control billions of shillings at the world-famous Masai Mara Game Reserve.

"Our investigations have revealed that it is a fight anchored on the control of resources at the Masai Mara," Mr Warfa said.

Park entry fees

Tension between the governor and those opposed to his leadership started immediately after the county government contracted a company to collect park entry fees in Mara, claiming it was not done above board.

The company, which they charged the governor had interest in, took the job from Equity Bank. The award of the contract to the bank elicited protests from locals and their leaders who also claimed that the process that led to the awarding was not transparent.

Some leaders opposed to Tunai have on several occasions claimed the governor was shielding Mau Forest squatters from being evicted to pave way for its reforestation. Tunai has since denied the claim.

Immediately after lobbing tear gas canisters and firing bullets at the protesters Monday, police combed the vicinity of the protest to collect cans and spent cartridges that were fired from AK47 and G3 rifles.

Relatives and friends of the dead protesters and those who were injured jammed the referral hospital. Security guards had hectic time controlling them.

Traders in the town closed their business premises in fear of looting as pupils, students and teachers kept away from schools.

Addressing their supporters after presenting the memorandum to the County Secretary Lenku Seki, Senator Ntutu, who later called off the day-long demonstration, condemned the police for using live ammunition on peaceful demonstrators.

"We have decided to call off the protest after handing over our petition containing our grievances to the county secretary. We expect the governor to respond to the issues we have raised within 21 days failure to which we will ask the President to dissolve the county government," he said.

Tunai, however, enjoys the support of majority of Members of County Assembly as well as his deputy Evelyn Aruasa and a section of the business community.

MPs Ken Kiloku (Narok East), Gideon Konchella (Kilgoris) and County MP Soipan Kudate, Assembly Speaker Nick Kamwaro and Majority Leader Stephen Kudate are also behind the governor.

Tunai claims his rivals' interest is to plunder the county government and argued he fell out with them after he resisted their attempts to get to the till. He said his administration had sealed leakages in revenue collection from Masai Mara Game Reserve, something the local leadership was not been happy with.