Azimio protesters meted violence on ‘respectful’ officers during demos - IG Koome

The Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome on Tuesday condemned what he described as "unwarranted violence" meted against police officers during Monday’s anti-government demonstrations in Nairobi and Kisumu.

Koome said the protests, which Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga had promised would be peaceful, turned out to be “violent crime scenes with protesters engaging in running battles with, and stone throwing at the anti-riot police officers, barricading roads thus hindering freedom of movement for law-abiding citizens.”

“The unwarranted day-long stand-off that was witnessed in Nairobi and Kisumu yesterday amounts to nothing short of violence against police and economic sabotage,” the IG said in a statement.

Monday saw Odinga’s supporters and Azimo-allied legislators take to the streets to compel President William Ruto’s administration to honour various issues it has, among them the high cost of living, alleged discrimination in State appointments, as well as purported lack of transparency in the country’s electoral body, IEBC.

And whereas the coalition’s plan was to march from the Nairobi city centre to State House, police barricaded roads leading to the president’s official residence as well as other key government establishments, forcing the opposition convoy to snake its way through residential estates outside of the city centre.

Police lobbed tear gas at Odinga and Azimio legislators as soon as they emerged from Serena Hotel near the city centre at around 2:40 p.m. to divert them from driving into the heart of the capital.

In Kisumu meanwhile, scenes of protesters clashing with police were witnessed, with the latter similarly forced to use teargas to disperse protesters.

Among the property destroyed were cars parks outside the Ruto-led United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party offices in Nyalenda. A car was torched in the incident.

According to IG Koome, the police were carrying out their duties professionally, “upholding the rule of law and utmost respect for human rights”, despite provocation from the protesters.

“Officers used force gradually beginning with the lowest threshold which is show-off force and barely reinforced by water cannons and lobbying teargas canisters to prevent the protestors from accessing central business districts of Nairobi and Kisumu, as well as protected areas, to prevent further damage,” he said.

“It is regrettable that even after Officers restrained themselves, and acted within the law; and effectively contained the situation, rioters invaded Maseno Police Station, hulling stones at police officers and property and in the process, we lost one male student from Maseno University,” the police boss added.

He was referring to William Mayange, the Maseno University student who was shot dead in Kisumu during the demos. He said a probe into the matter is ongoing.

“No one is above the law. Instead, there is a slippery slope between freedom of assembly, picketing, and petitioning as enshrined in Article 37 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, and the blatant infringement of the rights of others as we saw in yesterday's unlawful demonstrations,” Koome added.

Twenty-five people were arrested and seven people were injured in Nyanza, the police Inspector General said.

He said in Nairobi, ten police vehicles were damaged, 24 officers injured while 213 people were arrested.

‘Hooligans infiltrated the crowd’

According to Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, protests in the lakeside city were peaceful “until a few hooligans whose mission is yet to be established, infiltrated the crowd and started destroying property.”

Nyong’o said in a statement on Monday that the people in question posed as opposition supporters, stoned and damaged part of a hotel, a bank, supermarket and a shopping mall in the city centre.

“I wish, on behalf of the people of Kisumu, to strongly condemn this cowardly and criminal act. As the Governor of this County I wish to reiterate that we stand for peaceful and orderly picketing with zero attack on individual or public property and investments,” he stated.

He urged police to expedite investigations into the matter and make arrests, and also “establish if it could be true that they had been sponsored by some 2 groups or individuals to tarnish the name of Kisumu residents and Azimio La Umoja supporters as violent.”

The county boss also called for the expedited arrest and prosecution of the “trigger-happy” officer who shot the Maseno student.

The scale of destruction that took place in the capital is yet to be announced.

Odinga meanwhile says they will hold similar protests to Monday’s every Monday in the coming weeks, until the government listens to their concerns.