Four killed as opposition asks supporters to keep out of harm’s way

NASA Leader Raila Odinga leave his Raila Educational Centre in Kibra, Nairobi on Friday 26/10/17. The centre was looted by unknown gangs on Thursday. [Boniface Okendo,Standard]

National Super Alliance (NASA) leaders have urged their supporters stay out of harm’s way as four people died in Bungoma, Migori, Karachuonyo and Kawangware.

Speaking separately, the opposition leaders claimed security officers attacked defenseless women, children and other residents of various places in Nyanza and Bungoma.

A young man who was reportedly having lunch at a home in Bungoma town was shot dead as other reports said another person was killed in a separate incident.

A man who was recuperating at Ombo Mission Hospital in Migori succumbed to the injuries he suffered when he was shot earlier. And last evening, police shot and killed one man at former Karachuonyo MP James Rege’s home in Homa Bay County after a group of youth invaded the home claiming there were ballot materials hidden there. Three people were injured in the confrontation.

In the skirmishes between the locals and police in Kawangware, Nairobi County, one person was killed. The chaos were still on-going by the time of going to press yesterday.

In total, eight people were reportedly killed by police fire in Migori, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Machakos and Bungoma counties over the last 48 hours.

Addressing residents of Kibera after visiting a school in the area, NASA leader Raila Odinga said Jubilee had decided to target their supporters but vowed that they would stand firm until the administration came down.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commision (IEBC) on Thursday held the repeat presidential poll which NASA boycotted, claiming it would not be free and fair.

“We will not be cowed by the target on our people by the security, we will not waver,” Raila told an enchanted crowd at Raila Education Centre.

“We are asking where his eight million votes came from. Those people who turned up according to the KIEMs kits were only 3.5 million and they have tried to cook up the figures but they are not adding up,” he said.

“Even in Gatundu, there was a low turnout.”

In his first public appearance since Wednesday, Raila said it was a matter of time before Jubilee administration went down, adding that the low voter turnout was a reflection of the actual popularity of Jubilee.

“Their days in office are numbered and we promise to hound them out,” said the former premier.

The NASA leader spoke as his supporters mourned the deaths in Mamboleo, Nyalenda and Seme in Kisumu, and similar incidents were reported in Migori town where a mechanic was felled by police. Other deaths were recorded in Athi River, Machakos County, on Thursday night.

Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o said the residents were removed from their shops and houses and beaten senseless.

“We cannot brutalise innocent and selfless Kenyans whose only mistake is to belong to a particular community,” said Nyong’o.

Raila promised to give a comprehensive statement on the next course of action on Monday.

“There are many ways to kill a cat. The Jubilee cat has started eating up hens in the compound and I promise you we will deal with it,” he said.

And in another podium a few kilometres away at Okoa Kenya offices in Nairobi, NASA campaign chairman Musalia Mudavadi accused the poll agency of working with Jubilee to sanction State massacre, especially on Luos.

Mudavadi said the low voter turnout countrywide had vindicated the NASA leadership’s stand that Jubilee has no support even though the IEBC refused to open its servers for public scrutiny.

He accused the commission of ethnic profiling of the Luos, yet Kenyans boycotted the election in 26 counties.

“IEBC and Jubilee are working hand in hand to unleash terror on the people of Nyanza in the pretense of ensuring election takes place. It is the electorate’s constitutional right to vote or not to,” said Mudavadi.

“The first attempt failed and it has shown that the people don’t want to participate in a charade exercise. This is a wicked attempt at ethnic profiling of the Luo people.”

The Amani national Congress (ANC) leader said beefing up security in Nyanza ahead of polls is a euphemism for State preparation to “unleash even more lethal force and violence into these counties than has been witnessed in recent times”.

Path of anarchy

And while addressing irate supporters protesting the killing of two residents at Bungoma town, area Senator Moses Wetang’ula asked Chebukati to cancel the polls and call for fresh elections in 90 days to avoid pushing the country into the dangerous path of anarchy.

Wetang’ula said the polls were shamefully affected by low turnout, which was a harsh indictment on the commission for deciding to go ahead with an election it was ill-prepared to execute.

“There is possibly no mathematical formula that will help add up the numbers and therefore earn President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto a legitimate second term in office,” he said.

The NASA co-principal said security agencies visited an orgy of violence on the people who had largely remained peaceful throughout the day, including raiding private homes and assaulting dozens of people right in the safety of their bedrooms at night.

“We condemn in the strongest terms possible the police brutality, which has resulted in scores of injuries and two deaths. These actions are unlawful, criminal and unacceptable in a country governed by law and order,” said Wetang’ula.

As elected leaders, he said they will not accept the abuse of their supporters by security forces otherwise meant and paid to protect them and their rights to property.

The Senate minority leader said the move to restrict people’s movement as seen on the eve of the election offends the people’s constitutional and God-given right to movement and of association.

“We also condemn the unprecedented presence of military personnel on our streets and in villages in a veiled attempt to militarise the electoral process, intimidate Kenyans and earn a few people the mandate to govern by extortion,” he said.

Wetang’ula observed that the low voter turnout across the country, including in Jubilee strongholds, has punctured the narrative of ‘tyranny of numbers’ as a mathematical lie coined to rob Kenyans the power to decide their political destiny.

[Additional report by Vincent Achuka]