US security personnel take over at Kasarani

American security officers have taken over at the Safaricom Indoor Arena at Kasarani, Nairobi, where President Barack Obama will give a public address on Sunday.

The US security personnel, flanked by a few of their Kenyan colleagues, yesterday inspected the venue within the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Mr Obama will give the speech a day after opening the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at the UN headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi.

So serious were the officials about security that a Nation team that visited the stadium was stopped and the photographer forced to delete photos he had taken of them.

The mean-looking officers, in black suits and dark sunglasses, intercepted our photographer as he exited the arena. “Our colleagues say you have photographed them, you must delete the pictures,” said an officer who seemed to be their leader.

“You cannot have the pictures, this will endanger our men,” he insisted and forced the photographer to delete the images.

Before the incident, we’d sought to know who they were and one of them flashed his identity card in a manner similar to what happens in the movies and said firmly, “We re police officers. You may take photos of the stadium but not of any of us,” he added.

Although the officers were cordial, their Kenyan colleagues were harsh and shouted at the Nation team. They also demanded that the images be deleted.

The stadium is expected to be packed during the occasion said to be an invitation-only event.

Many Kenyans indicated they want to attend the event just to set their eyes on President Obama, born of a Kenyan father and an American mother.