Former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale and his team of legislators outsmarted the police to hold a parallel rally in Kakamega at a time when the much-touted BBI rally was being held in Bukhungu Stadium, Kakamega.
Reports from the Standard on Sunday, January 19, indicate that the leaders, led by Khalwale, got wind of police' plans to arrest and stop them from hosting the meeting.
The entourage, which included Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa, John Waluke (Sirisia), Dan Wanyama (Webuye West), Justus Murunga (Matungu) Charles Gimose (Vihiga) and ex-sports CS Rashid Echesa, chose not to use their vehicles but instead traveled to Kakamega on bicycles.
Reports indicate that it took the police time to notice the presence of the leaders in town, but by then, they had already sneaked out of the CBD and on to the Harambee Market with a view to addressing the media.
The police then stormed the press conference to flush out the leaders and the running battles began.
Police fired tear gas at the politicians and their supporters at Ekero and Shibale and later followed them to the Shibale market at a time when Echesa had stood to address the crowd, forcing them to disperse.
Khalwale and Barasa had long shown signs of a showdown with their insistence that they would hold the condemned rally to discuss issues to do with sugar in western Kenya which they claimed had been neglected by the president.
"Uhuru gave Ksh3 billion for coffee, Ksh3 billion for tea, Ksh3billion to milk farmers in Central Kenya, and Ksh3 billion for the port of Kisumu. What's wrong when we as the leaders of the Western region meeting in Mumias and demand what is rightfully ours?" Khalwale was quoted.
His sentiments were echoed by Barasa, who insisted that the meeting had not been called in opposition to the BBI report but as a means to discuss ways to revive the region's collapsed factories including Mumias Sugar, Kitinda Dairy, and Malakisi Ginnery.
The National Police Service on January 15, 2020, canceled two permits it had earlier issued for planned meetings in Mumias, which were viewed as a counter move to the highly-anticipated BBI forum.
The statement detailing the cancellation indicated that it was on the grounds of security reasons.
