Nyong’o criticises Uhuru foreign tour

By Judy Nguta

Nairobi, Kenya: Acting ODM leader Anyang' Nyong'o Tuesday criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta's 2-week foreign tour citing rising cases of insecurity in the country.

The president is set to travel to Belgium, Rwanda, Turkey and the United Kingdom with the initial stop in Belgium where he will attend the EU-Africa Summit.

“I am surprised that the President can choose to leave the country at a time when Kenya is facing the most grievous security threats almost everywhere,” said Nyong’o in a press statement.

Nyong’o expressed displeasure in the president’s absence in the country at a time when a hands on approach is most needed, saying the deputy president’s powers are limited in some circumstances.

“Given the limited powers that the Deputy President can exercise constitutionally, I find the absence of the President reckless, adventurous and most uncalled for,” he added.

He further criticised Uhuru’s approach on issues of national importance, calling for action from the government.

“Rather than talk about the impending shake up of the security system, Kenyans want to see the result of action and not the intention of promises,” said Nyong’o.

Kenya has been hit by a series of terror attacks in the last one month, with the latest claiming six lives in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate. Several others sustained serious injuries following the Monday March 31 grenade attack and are admitted in hospital.

On Sunday March 23, a gun attack at a church in Likoni, Mombasa claimed six lives and left scores with serious gun wounds while others had bullets lodged in their bodies. During the incident, a year old baby Satrin Osinya had a bullet lodged in his brain and it has taken doctors up to April 1 to remove it.

A man also had a bullet lodged in his thigh following the Sunday morning attack.