Jubilee MPs take on Nasa over property damage

Anti-IEBC protesters scamper after police threw tear gas at them along Moi Avenue, Nairobi, on October 11, 2017. The demonstrations have been marked by violence. PHOTO | RAPHAEL NJOROGE

What you need to know:

  • They claimed the demonstrators have been carrying weapons, which they have used to harm innocent Kenyans.

Six Jubilee MPs want Nasa principals held accountable for property losses in areas that have been rocked by anti-IEBC demonstrations.

The lawmakers have accused the opposition leaders of failing to contain their supporters to hold peaceful protests as stipulated in the Constitution.

Led by Nyeri MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, lawmakers John Kiarie (Dagoretti South), Moses Kirima (Imenti Central), Fatuma Gedi (Wajir woman rep), Catherine Waruguru (Laikipia woman rep) and Peter Kimari (Mathioya), complained that the Nasa supporters had disrupted business in the city centre.

Addressing a press conference at Parliament buildings on Tuesday, the lawmakers claimed the demonstrators have been carrying weapons, which they have used to harm innocent Kenyans.

“What we have been witnessing in some parts of the country is not peaceful demonstration as stipulated in the Constitution but riots, which is a criminal offence,” Mr Wambugu said.

Ms Waruguru, at the same time, faulted the decision by the High Court to lift the government ban on demonstrations in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu central business districts.