Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has swiftly reacted to acting Interior CS Fred Matiangi's directive to ban demonstrations in Kisumu, Mombasa and Nairobi CBD.
Babu stated that only National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga had the mandate to call off anti-IEBC demos and any other information should be treated as mere statistics.
"Only Raila Odinga has the power to call off our anti-IEBC demos. Any other communication should be treated as statistics," wrote Mr Owino on his twitter handle.
Matiang'i on Thursday stated that all rallies and demos are banned in the Nairobi CBD as protesters were taking advantage of the situation to cause chaos.
"Protecting the lives and properties of the people of Kenya is not negotiable.
"We have noted with great concern the escalation of lawlessness, breach of peace and public order during demonstrations organised by NASA.
"Due to the clear present and imminent danger of the breach of peace and public order as witnessed in recent demonstrations, the government notifies the public that for the time being, we will not allow demonstrations within central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu," stated the CS during a press conference.
Speaking to KTN News, legislators Otiende Amollo (Rarieda), Esther Passaris (Nairobi Woman Rep), Simba Arati ( Dagoretti North) and Antony Oluoch (Mathare) stated that CS Matiang'i's directive was unlawful adding that the anti-IEBC demos will proceed as scheduled.
[caption caption="Lawyer Otiende Amollo"]
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"The CS's directive is unlawful, demonstrations will continue peacefully. We urge the police to come out and protect the citizens," Otiende stated.
The Rarieda legislator also noted that it was the duty of the police to protect the protestors adding that NASA should not be blamed for any damages that occurred.
"While we share the concerns of CS Matiang'i that any demos ought to be peaceful, we do not agree with him that the blame or absence of peace or organisation is on NASA, it is indeed on the police," he stated.
