Cord vows to defy police ban on Eldoret rally

A showdown looms between the police and the Opposition after Cord leader Raila Odinga Wednesday vowed to go ahead with a political rally scheduled for Eldoret Friday but which the police have said should not be held.

Mr Odinga and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula told a Press conference in Nairobi that their rallies planned for 64 Stadium in Eldoret tomorrow and Ntulele in Narok County on Saturday would proceed without fail “whether they (police) like it or not”.

Mr Wetangula also announced that Cord would withdraw a proposed motion of censure against Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku, who has been criticised for his handling of the security docket.

Mr Wetangula said Cord had asked the minority leader in the National Assembly, Mr Francis Nyenze, to write to House Speaker Justin Muturi notifying him of the decision.

“We believe that he (Lenku) is just a small functionality of a terrible system. Going after him is a waste of time and our brains.”

He said President Kenyatta, who is the chair of the country’s Security Council, was to blame for the government’s failure to contain rising insecurity in the country.

Unaware of the decision, Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura yesterday notified the House officially of his motion. He later told journalists that he was not aware of the decision by Cord to withdraw the motion.

The decision to withdraw of the motion came two days ahead of the Cord rally slated for Ntulele.

In a notice signed by Eldoret Deputy OCS Patrick Lumumba, the police said they had cancelled the rally in the North Rift town following intelligence reports that the meeting could turn chaotic.
The notice was copied to the Uasin Gishu County Commissioner and other security officials in the region.

Mr Odinga said Cord rallies held in various towns had turned out to be peaceful despite “predictions of doom and chaos being fuelled by the Jubilee Government”.
He said the police had no role in cancelling rallies and that their work was to protect those who attended the meetings.

“The work of the police is to provide us with security. Ours was to give them notice that we will be holding a rally. We are not aware of any danger in Eldoret as has been claimed,” Mr Odinga said.

“We shall go on with the rallies whether they like it or not.”

Mr Wetangula likened the cancellation to the repression of the Kanu era.

“In the alleged cancellation of rallies, we also see attempts by the Jubilee administration to revive the division of the country into Kanu zones and opposition in a bid to stop the people from exercising the freedoms as contained in our hard-won Constitution,” said the Ford Kenya leader.

He said Cord was ready to stage another monumental struggle to defend and sustain the freedoms it took Kenyans more than 20 years to gain.

“The people who are trying to stop us from enjoying the fruits of that long deadly struggle are products of the system that tried to stop us from getting them. That is why they can still instruct the police to purport to be cancelling public gatherings,” he said and urged Opposition supporters to turn up in large numbers.

While announcing the cancellation of the rally through a letter to Uasin Gishu ODM chairman Kipkorir Menjo, Mr Lumumba said police had received information that the rally could be marred by violence.

“The Cord political rally scheduled to take place on 27th June 2014 at the 64 Stadium Eldoret shall not be held as planned due to volatile situation on the ground as guided by intelligence reports,” Mr Lumumba had said in the letter. However, Mr Menjo accused the county administration and the police of seeking all possible means to stop the rally.

“The county government and some other leaders allied to the ruling coalition have been constantly fighting to thwart our plans for the rally and we suppose the police are receiving orders from somewhere else,” he said.

Reports claimed that the Uasin Gishu county government had declined to free the stadium or any other public venue for the Cord rally.

Cord had earlier insisted on holding the rally even after Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago had barred its leaders from using venues in the town for rallies, citing tension in the area.
He had said such a rally would reopen old wounds in a region which was hardest hit by the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

On Monday, an Uasin Gishu elders’ council joined Mr Mandago and the region’s political leaders in urging Cord to call off the rally.

However, Cord leaders went ahead and secured a permit for the rally and insisted they would go ahead with it. Cord has held four rallies at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kisumu, Tononoka grounds in Mombasa and Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega to press for a national dialogue conference to discuss key issues affecting the country, including insecurity, appointment of public officials and corruption.

Cord leaders have warned that they will lead mass action on July 7 — Saba Saba Day — if the government fails to give in to their demands.

Additional reporting by John Ngirachu