President Uhuru Kenyatta said stern action will be taken against anyone who destroys public or private property while claiming to be holding peaceful demonstrations/PSCU
TALA, Kenya, Jun 10 – The government will not tolerate any more destruction of property by the Opposition under the guise of peaceful protests.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said stern action will be taken against anyone who destroys public or private property while claiming to be holding peaceful demonstrations.
He also called on those who take part in the Opposition demonstrations over the IEBC to use their intelligence and stop provoking security officers.
President Kenyatta said it was laughable for someone to throw stones at armed officers and expect that the policemen will enjoy the treatment. He said such foolhardy people will only have themselves to blame.
“We will not allow demonstrations to be used to destroy any property,” said President Kenyatta in Tala, Machakos where he launched development projects.
He gave his warning after observing that the Opposition was not genuinely interested in dialogue over the IEBC.
President Kenyatta said even after the Jubilee Government nominated MPs to sit in a select committee of Parliament, the Opposition appears to be backtracking even though it had used the excuse of wanting dialogue to cause destruction of property and lose of lives.
President Kenyatta also told the Opposition leaders not to entertain any thoughts of him sitting down to discuss issues concerning the IEBC with them.
“I have no business sitting down with you. I was elected to steer the development of this country. These other issues are the roles of Members of Parliament,” the President said.
Deputy President William Ruto said it was comical for the Opposition to appear confounded just when the government has agreed to have real dialogue on the issue of IEBC.
“They have been protesting and saying they want dialogue. We told them it is alright, let us form a select committee then they start retreating. Apparently, they did not even know why they were protesting,” the Deputy President said.
The DP urged politicians to stop being selfish and putting their interest before that of the citizens.
“It must not be which position I will get. It must be about how to change the life of the ordinary Kenyan,” said the DP.
He said the protests the Opposition has been holding will not help Kenyans because it is about the selfish interest of some group of politicians.
Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua said the people of Ukambani have no time for the protests because they love peace and are also busy trying to improve their welfare.
Governor Mutua said he wants to roll out a National ID card registration program in Machakos County on every Monday to coincide with the day the Opposition has been holding protests.
“We also want to ask the IEBC to issue the people of this area with voters cards on every Thursday,” said the Governor.
The public rally at Tala was addressed by many legislators who said that the people of the region were supportive of the development initiatives of the government.
The President addressed the rally after launching the tarmacking of the Tala-Oldonyo Sabuk-Kilimambogo Road at the cost of more than Sh1 billion.
The launch of the project marked the beginning of the President’s tour of Ukambani where he will launch development projects and meet local leaders as well us interact with the public.
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