Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supporters were on Tuesday subjected to instant disciplining by flying squad officers after they attempted to forcefully register voters in Nyalenda Estate, Kisumu City.
The passionate youth on Tuesday morning stormed the local market chanting pro-ODM songs as they forced all residents to show their voter’s cards.
The group is reported to have been worried by reports that Odinga's strongholds of Luo Nyanza were lagging behind in the ongoing mass registration exercise.
Those who lacked proof of registration were forcibly dragged to the nearby IEBC registration centre to undertake what should be a voluntary exercise.
Some of the residents who were roughed up complained to the area OCPD who in turn sent out a contingent of flying squad officers to restore order in the area.
The youth calmed down after engaging the police officers in short running battles.
A few of those who were unlucky faced the wrath of the mean-looking security officers while a few, including the group’s leader, were arrested and later released on condition that they would not use force to forcibly register voters.
Meanwhile, ODM politicians in Homa Bay and Migori counties have complained over what they termed as an attempt by government officials to sabotage the ongoing voter registration in the region.
This was after Nyanza Regional Coordinator Wilson Njega and county commissioners in the region warned that they would take action against anybody, including politicians, using ‘unorthodox’ means to have people registered.
“The directive by the President that the provincial administration officials should assist in registration of voters is being implemented in Central Kenya and parts of the Rift Valley. In Nyanza, they have been directed to sabotage the registration process,” Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma complained.
