The East African Standard | Online Edition

East African Standard - Online Edition

Home
National
Provincial
Business
Africa
Sports
Commentaries
Editorial
Cartoon
Letters
Horoscopes

Big Issue | Financial Standard | Maddo | Pulse | Style | Society
  Monday, July 5, 2004

    

Security alert as tension grips city
Standard Team

Police sealed off Uhuru Park yesterday and stationed themselves strategically on street corners as tension gripped Nairobi in the wake of Saturday’s day-long violence.

Over in Kisumu tension also remained high as the man who was shot by police on Saturday evening succumbed to his injuries at hospital and as traders counted their losses.

Most Nairobians who witnessed the violence or followed it on their TV screens, expressed anxiety about Wednesday’s Saba Saba (July 7) rally called by agitators for a new constitutional dispensation.

Violence erupted in Nairobi mid-morning on Saturday as the Katiba Watch lobby, politicians and opposition MPs, clashed with police who outlawed a rally called to press for constitutional reform.

Kisumu, unlike Nairobi, had been peaceful during the day, but erupted into violence late in the evening as demonstrating youths broke into shops to loot and burn.

An estimated 700 officers drawn from the crack para-military General Service Unit, regular and Administration Police were deployed to keep watch over different parts of Nairobi.

Similarly hundreds of police patrolled Kisumu’s streets as residents struggled to come to grips with the injuries suffered and business lost in the chaos of the previous day.

Saturday saw the largest assembly of anti-riot police seen in recent years as the force displayed its brawn. There were more than 20 Land Cruisers and 10 lorries assembled at the park to ferry officers to several spots in Nairobi.

The park was cordoned off and patrolled by armed police on horseback and on foot to keep off organisers of the banned rally.

And yesterday, the park, which is popular for family outings on Sundays, was a no go zone area as families seeking to picnic were turned away by police on horseback.

No amount of pleading by several couples would make the helmeted police relent and families had to turn back. Nairobi police chief King’ori Mwangi called off the operation at 3.30pm.

Armed with anti-riot gear, the officers spent Saturday night at the Park following suspicion that Katiba Watch would attempt to hold an illegal meeting in the dark.

Roadblocks were mounted on both sides of the drive to the pavilion and motorists crossing through the park were turned. In the process, the police stopped a religious crusade by Pastor John Muiru’s Kuna Nuru Gizani (There’s Light in the Dark) faith.

A member of Pastor Muiru’s organisation said: "They said they do not want anyone to enter the park. But I don’t know why they are keeping away God’s people."

He said they had planned to mount a public address system in the wee hours of yesterday but were told politicians could use their equipment to address an illegal rally.

"Intelligence information indicates some people have plotted to disturb peace in the city centre. We believe looters may take advantage of the situation," a senior police officer told the East African Standard.

The officer was heard issuing instructions that police closely monitor some residential estates, including Kibera slums and Dandora. It was feared that youths from those areas would march onto the city and cause chaos, he said.

On Saturday, rioting mobs battled police in running battles, lit bonfires on city streets and broke into shops before they were dispersed.

By yesterday morning, police and council workers had cleared many of the overturned telephone booths and large boulders placed on the streets by rioters.

Employees of the Kenya Charity Sweepstake went round collecting some of their damaged booths and putting back those that were left unscathed. The booths had been used to barricade roads.

A truck-load of GSU officers spent the better part of yesterday on standby at Police Headquarters.



News Headlines | Home Page

Copyright © 2004 . The Standard Ltd


The Standard Ltd
I & M Building, Kenyatta Avenue,
P.O Box 30080, 00100 GPO, Nairobi-Kenya.

Tel. +254 20 3222111, Fax: +254 20 214467, 229218, 218965. News room: +254 20 3222111, Fax: +254 20 213108.
Email:
editorial@eastandard.net, online@eastandard.net, Advertising: standard.ads@swiftkenya.com