Mau Mau veterans to snub elections if not compensated
Tharaka-Nithi Mau Mau war veterans address the media in Chuka town on January 23, 2017. They have demanded compensattion for emancipating the country from colonialists. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- He also accused the government of sitting on their compensation released by the British government.
- Mr Miriti said the State has been dishing out empty promises to them every Mashujaa Day.
Mau Mau war veterans in Tharaka-Nithi County have vowed to boycott the August 8 elections, saying they have been neglected by the national government.
Addressing journalists in Chuka town, the group's chairman Samson Miriti said they had resolved not to participate in the ongoing voter registration because the government had failed to honour its pledges to reward them for liberating the country from colonialists.
“We have received promises from the first to the current government but we have received nothing,” Mr Miriti said.
He also accused the government of sitting on their compensation released by the British government, noting that most of the veterans had died awaiting their dues.
Mr Miriti said the State has been dishing out empty promises to them every Mashujaa Day.
Further, the chairman decried their squalid living standards resulting from poverty and neglect, saying they had been pushed to become beggars.
“Some of us beg in town streets in order to get a meal,” he added.
The group's secretary Japheth Kabubu urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to fast-track their compensation or they will not vote.
They told him to address the issue when he tours the county on Thursday.
