A total of 46 people were on Tuesday arrested for disturbing the peace in Nairobi and the Nyanza regions during the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya’s anti-government protests.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki said that 14 of these people were arrested in Nairobi, while the other 32 were nabbed in different parts of Nyanza.
Kindiki said the detained persons have been linked to robberies, arson, and malicious damage to property reported across the country during the protests.
“In Nairobi, a PSV Reg. No. KBV362 was burnt to ashes along Ngong Road while a lorry Reg. No. KDH 917Y transporting steel from Mombasa to Kampala was forcibly stopped along The Southern By-Pass and burnt down. Within Eastleigh suburb, Juja Shell Petrol was attacked and robbed of 12 gas cylinders before maliciously damaging fuel pumps and vehicles that were parked at the premises,” said Kindiki.
“In parts of Kisumu, Homa Bay and Migori within Nyanza Region, riotous mobs interfered with the flow of traffic and damaged windscreens of several motor vehicles by hurling rocks and other crude missiles. A number of private properties were also looted.”
They will all be arraigned in court on Wednesday, according to the CS, who also mentioned that police are still pursuing additional suspects.
“To ensure the country does not turn into lawlessness, security agencies are fairly instructed to enforce the law firmly and decisively. All criminals irrespective of the political party or group that they support must be neutered before they destroy Kenya,” said Kindiki.
“No more violent protests shall be allowed anywhere in Kenya. With or without notices, demonstrations and protests of any type which injure people, security officers, businesses and property shall be prevented at all costs.”
Azimio leaders said the goons who attacked and torched vehicles in Nairobi were hired by a group of government politicians led by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“We know they were ferried from Thika for the mission and police were ordered not to touch them,” they said.
