Police on horseback patrol Nairobi Central Business District ahead of Supreme Court verdict/ALI ALALE
The six-judge bench will decide if Kenya will hold another presidential poll or if Uhuru Kenyatta will remain the winner of the contest as announced by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
Nairobi provincial police chief Benson Kibui told Capital FM News that no unauthorised persons would be allowed near the court.
“I would like to tell Kenyans that we have completely sealed off the Supreme Court and its premises. We don’t want people to come around as we saw the other day (the day of filing the petition). Security is tight around here but anybody doing business can move on,” he advised.
According to Kibui, the police will not impede anyone who is not being disorderly or disturbing peace.
He further called on Kenyans to be peaceful and accept the court’s verdict since the Supreme Court’s decision is final on the outcome of the presidential election.
Roads leading to the Supreme Court, Kenyatta International Conference Centre and City Hall were barricaded amid tight security by General Service Unit personnel who were also deployed across the Central Business District.
Kenyans who spoke to Capital FM News said they felt secure and commended the government for enforcing security.
Even though some countries issued travel advisories to their citizens, some tourists have ignored the warnings and have travelled to the country saying they believed Kenya will remain peaceful even after the court ruling.
One of the tourists who identified himself as Akeel, from the United States of America told Capital FM News that he felt safe and that is why he was in city centre on Saturday.
“I love this precaution to avoid anything bad from happening. I feel comfortable being in Kenya knowing the people of Kenya care about our fate,” Akeel asserted.
“Years ago my parents came out of here when Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta died, they were not sure whether they are going to stay in Kenya or move to Tanzania but they decided to come back to Nairobi because they had trust in the people of Kenya. I have spoken to my parents about the presidential election and I am pretty decided that no matter what the US has said, I will stick around, I am not going to be scared of anything; nothing makes me uncomfortable and I love it,” he asserted.
On Friday, the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo issued an order to all supporters of various parties to desist from grouping around the Supreme Court and nearby premises.
He also promised that massive police deployments will be made in Nairobi and other major towns to curb any cases of insecurity.
Some of the areas include Nakuru, Embu, Wajir, Eldoret, Kericho, Bomet, Coast and Nyanza.
According to Kimaiyo those are some of the areas that supporters of either President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta or Prime Minister Raila Odinga can attempt to evict their ‘perceived adversaries’.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced Kenyatta as the winner of the election on March 9 but moments later Odinga announced he would move to court to challenge the outcome.
Odinga moved to court on April 16 and the court on Friday ended the hearing of his petition ahead of the historic ruling on Saturday.
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