Gov’t to launch investigations into Muliro Gardens chaos

The Government is set to launch investigations into the chaos that rocked Ford Kenya party leader Moses Wetangula’s presidential bid launch at Muliro Gardens in Kakamega County on Saturday.

According to Government Spokesperson Eric Kiraithe, the Saturday incident was a perpetuation of a detestable scheme by political leaders to express opposition for their own personal gains.

“Yesterday’s incident in Kakamega was unfortunate. Violence and chaos cannot be tolerated as a political tool in any civilised society,” said Kiraithe.

“The government is opposed to any form of chaos and warns politicians against using violence as a political tool.”

Clad in orange t-shirts, youth suspected to be allied to the Orange Democratic Party (ODM) stormed Wetangula’s rally on Saturday, just moments before his arrival, leading to a collision with their Ford Kenya counterparts.

Police were forced to lob teargas to arrest the situation leading to a resumption of normalcy.

The clash was a manifestation of the growing dissension between Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and the County Senator Bonny Khalwale brought about by the latter’s interest in the governorship seat.

In previous pronouncements, Oparanya had expressed opposition to Wetangula’s presidential launch in Kakamega saying he should instead hold the event elsewhere.

Khalwale, who has since decamped from the defunct UDF to Wetangula’s Ford Kenya, however insisted that the launch would go on, saying it was within the CORD co-principal’s right to do so.

On Friday, youth allied to Oparanya were roughed up after they attempted to vandalise the setup at the venue of the launch.

The discord caught the attention of ODM party leader Raila Odinga who held a meeting with Oparanya to seek an end to the feud between him and Ford Kenya supporters.

The government spokesman also castigated MPs who disrupted President Kenyatta’s speech on Thursday calling for an end to such political showdowns.

By Samuel Ramtu