Kenyan police ban political gatherings due to insecurity

Kenyan police on Tuesday banned political gatherings in the country after receiving intelligence information that the rallies might be used by criminals to cause mayhem in the wake of terror attacks.

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo also ruled out licensing any parallel public gathering apart from the Madaraka Day celebrations on June 1.

“The police wishes to notify all the political parties and the general public that all political meetings and processions in the Country have been cancelled until further notice,” Kimaiyo said in a statement issued after a security meeting in Nairobi.
 

“We are all aware that in the recent past the country has been faced with incidents of insecurity where criminals and other elements of terror have caused death and injury to the public,” Kimaiyo added.

The police chief said the order is issued against the backdrop of various aspects of insecurity which the East African nation is currently facing.

The statement comes as two major political parties in Kenya, the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Jubilee Coalition led by President Uhuru Kenyatta had planned to hold a parallel rallies in Nairobi on Saturday.

The cancellation also came after CORD on Tuesday released a schedule of events including road shows to mark the return of their principal Odinga who has been out of the country for the last two months.

But the police chief told the political parties to prioritize the interests and the security of all Kenyans by calling off all political meetings and processions in the country to prevent and pre-empt any incidents which may be taken advantage of by criminals or proponents of terror.

“I want to strongly caution Kenyans to desist from participating in criminal or terrorist activities. They must understand that these activities have the effect of destroying our country’s progress economically and hurting innocent fellow Kenyans,” Kimaiyo said.

He also said the country has been experiencing incidents of false alerts of impending terrorist attacks which he said has set panic and fear among the citizens.

“I want to caution members of the public and bloggers to refrain from sending any information which is not truthful to avoid confusion and panic. Let every person confirm such information with the police and other government agencies,” he said.