NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 10 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has instructed police against lobbing teargas to disperse peaceful protestors.
Kindiki said his office had been made aware of overzealous perpetrators in the security sector who used unnecessary and disproportionate force which is in contradiction of the government’s position to uphold tenets of the 2010 Constitution.
“If the citizens are peacefully demonstrating, they should be allowed to do so. If they are unarmed, not causing harm to anyone or damaging property, they should be permitted to express their grievances without interference. Eventually, they will disperse and return to their homes,” Kindiki emphasized.
Kindiki emphasized the responsibility of the police to ensure the safety and security of citizens while they exercise their democratic rights.
The Interior Cabinet Secretary warned that any law enforcement officer who violates the rights of any citizen will face appropriate consequences.
“We will not tolerate the misconduct of the few police officers who resort to excessive force against protesters. Such behavior will be dealt with accordingly,” he cautioned.
The remarks come after Azimio La Umoja Coalition Leader Raila Odinga, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum castigated anti-riot police officers of using excessive force and live bullets to ensure protesters do not make their way into the city centre.
In the past, peaceful protests have ended up turning violent after police used excessive force to disperse crowds.
Over the weekend police unleashed teargas on activists who had gone to Central Police Station in Nairobi Saturday to secure the release of people arrested in Friday’s Saba Saba demonstrations.
The group was led by former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, and activist Boniface Mwangi among others.
“Police are cowards, why are they teargassing us yet we have not committed any crime,” Mwangi said after a confrontation with the police at the station.
Similar protests were held in Kisumu, Kitale, Kisii, Mombasa, Lodwar among other towns.
In Kisumu, two people were shot dead and others sustained injuries during confrontations with police.
Police earlier fired tear gas on opposition leader Odinga’s convoy after he addressed a rally in the capital Nairobi that turned violent when he ordered them to march to town from Kamukunji.
At the rally, Odinga announced plans to collect 10 million signatures in a bid to remove his arch-rival from office.
Odinga’s Azimio alliance had called for protests over the impact of the new taxes on Kenyans already suffering economic hardship and soaring prices for basic necessities.
Last week, Ruto signed into law a finance bill which is expected to generate more than $2.1 billion for the government’s depleted coffers and help repair the heavily indebted economy.
