NASA leaders arrested in cat and mouse game with police

Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua is blocked from entering Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where her team had gone to prepare the arrival of their party leaders Raila Odinga,Kalonzo Musyoka,Moses Wetangula and Musalia Mudavadi 16/11/17 [Moses Omusula/Standard]

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, his Rauaraka counterpart TJ Kajwang and Starehe politician Steve Mbogo were arrested Thursday as Opposition leaders engaged police in a cat-and-mouse game.

The leaders were apprehended on Ngong’ Road as they attempted to enter Kibra’s Kamkunji ground where NASA had scheduled a rally that had been banned by the police.

They were later released after a brief detention and are now facing a traffic offence of riding on a motorcycle without a helmet.

Even as they were held back, their colleagues beat a police dragnet that had sealed routes to Kibera from Langata Road, Southern Bypass, Ngong Road and Mbagathi Road and either walked or sued motorcycles to the venue of the rally which began shortly before 5pm.

Boda bodas

Led by Siaya Senator James Orengo and ex-senators Johnson Muthama (Machakos) and Boni Khalwale (Kakamega), over 10 MPs abandoned their vehicles along Langata Road, Ngong Road and the Southern Bypass and either walked to Kibra or used boda bodas.

NASA had resorted to address their supporters from Kibra after the police sealed off the Kamukunji grounds in Shauri Moyo, where they had planned to hold a curtain raiser rally ahead of the return of their leader Raila Odinga today.

“The Government that lives in fear of its people does not deserve to be in power,” Mr Orengo told hundreds of supporters as he rallied them to walk to JKIA today for the grand reception.

NASA has vowed to defy the police and ferry thousands of its supporters to receive Raila at JKIA today.

The NASA leader, who has been out of the country for the past 12 days, is expected to arrive in the country around 11am, with supporters saying they will receive him before commencing a procession along Mombasa Road.

He will then address a rally at Uhuru Park, where he is expected to make what his party has said is a major announcement after rejecting October 26 elections, which he boycotted.

The leaders challenged police to mobilise as many officers as they can, saying they do not fear arrest or being shot.”

“We call upon all our supporters tomorrow (Friday) not to report to work but join us in receiving our leader,” Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati said.

Former Senator Elizabeth Ongoro said: “I want to challenge the police that if they have a capacity to stop a sea of humanity headed to JKIA, let them try. And if they try to detain Raila at the airport so that he doesn’t address us, it will give us an opportunity to bring everything to a standstill.”

Homa Bay Woman Rep Gladys Wanga said: “Last week they barred us from Jacaranda grounds but we managed to hold a rally. Today they said we will not hold any rally in Nairobi but we have done it. They also said we can’t address a press conference from JKIA, we just did that. Tomorrow (today) we shall be at JKIA, whether they like it or not.”

Earlier, leaders threatened to paralyse activities at the country’s biggest airport if they are restrained from receiving Raila.

This was after the law enforcers barred them from accessing JKIA, where they had allegedly gone for "rehearsals" ahead of today's arrival by Raila.

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