Crowd trouble mars public viewing of body

The hearse carrying the body of the late Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang' is escorted to Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground in Kisumu on November 27, 2014. PHOTO | TOM OTIENO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • At the Homa Bay Stadium, security personnel had a hectic time battling hundreds of youths who had blocked the hearse from entering a tent set aside for it.
  • Some youths threw stones at the main dais and brought down another tent that had been designated to shelter the coffin.

The planned public viewing of Senator Otieno Kajwang’s body in Kisumu and his rural home was Thursday marred by crowd trouble as youths scrambled to get access to the tent sheltering the coffin.

At Kisumu’s Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground, crowds became uncontrollable shortly after 10am and broke the security barriers in front of the dais.

The residents surrounded the tent where Homa Bay senator’s body was to be laid for viewing, making it impossible for the coffin to be removed from the hearse when it finally arrived.

Journalists were left between a rock and a hard place as crowds pressed forward while the VIPs’ security detail kept pressing back. It was a near-stampede when the hearse entered the grounds.

The emcee’s numerous appeals to the crowd not to repeat what had happened the previous day in Nairobi fell on deaf ears when crowds destroyed barriers that had been placed to guide the queue.

At the Homa Bay Stadium, security personnel had a hectic time battling hundreds of youths who had blocked the hearse from entering a tent set aside for it.
THREW STONES

Some youths threw stones at the main dais and brought down another tent that had been designated to shelter the coffin.

Speaking to Nation, security experts Richard Thuta and James Onyango said the organisers should tighten security to ensure today’s burial goes on smoothly.

But burial committee chairman Martin Opere noted that the crowd trouble was not because of disorder but due to the excitement among the senator’s supporters.