Police scuttle ODM's plan to organise parallel rally in Mombasa

The Orange Democratic Movement has been barred by police from holding a parallel rally in Mvita to counter President Uhuru Kenyatta's meeting in Tononoka on Sunday.

Urban OCPD Lucas Ogara said the organisers of the ODM rally put in the request late.

Mr Ogara said they visited the Makupa Police Station OCS at 12.30 pm this Saturday, instead of doing so 72 hours early.

"The law is very clear. So we find it curious for the organisers to notify us at the eleventh hour. They were time-barred," he said.

He also expressed concern that the governor and his team wanted to hold the rally a stone's throw away from the President's meeting, which he said could be tricky in terms of security logistics.

The OCPD also castigated the party's plan terming it as bad faith.

"The governor’s intention was in bad faith that is why we declined it and advised his team to hold their rally on another day," he said.

Mr Ogara added that the county would soon host self-acclaimed prophet David Owuor at Bamburi, which has stretched the police force thin.

Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir confirmed that their request was turned down.

"After inspecting the grounds, we sent people to go and inform the police at Makupa Police Station but they were advised against that," he said.

The MP disclosed that the initial venue was Mama Ngina Drive.

The failed rally has generated criticism from Jubilee's Mombasa gubernatorial candidate Suleiman Shahbal who said it is immaterial.

"He can hold as many parallel rallies as he can but that cannot change the fact that he has failed to deliver for the people of Mombasa as a governor," he said.