Azimio la Umoja party leader Raila Odinga has blamed a section of United Democratic Alliance (UDA) operatives for organizing the chaos that rocked the anti-government rally in Kisii County on Friday, February 17.
He noted that the attacks were led by a jailbird and hardcore criminal who had several warrants of arrest to his name.
Raila, who fell short of naming the ring leader, noted that the attacks indicated the government’s efforts to drive the country into chaos.
“Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party strongly condemns the incident in which UDA operatives, working with State officers and well-known criminals invaded villagers in Kisii, hacked people and destroyed property.
“The victims in this attack were youth who attended the very peaceful Azimio rally in Kisii on Friday. That the attackers were led by a well-known jailbird and hardcore criminal with several warrants of arrest to his name, is an indication that we are back to rule by thuggery and hooliganism,” he pointed out.
The ODM party leader called upon the politicians to shift their focus to him and not his supporters- whom he stated had been maliciously targeted for attending his rally.
“We call on UDA operatives who have issues with Azimio’s meetings to face us, the leaders and leave alone our innocent and peaceful supporters. We want to make it very clear that we will not allow state-sponsored hooliganism to take root in Kenya again and we will neither be cowed nor intimidated,” he noted.
He added that Kenyans would be left with no choice but to protect themselves if the government failed to bring the culprits to book.
“Action must be taken on the criminals who participated in this attack, otherwise people will have no option but to protect themselves in the best way they can.”
Raila’s statement came after a clash ensued between Azimio la Umoja and Kenya Kwanza supporters in Kisii.
Reports indicated that several youths pelted stones at Kenya Kwanza supporters holding demos near Ram Hospital along the Daraja Moja-Nyamataro bypass.
Condemning the incident at the scene, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) group leader Fred Nunda stated that they were holding peaceful demonstrations before they were provoked by their rivals.
“They began throwing stones at us. We did not have any issues with them, we only had misgivings with the way ODM leader Raila Odinga and Siaya Senator James Orengo used their rally in Kisii to trade very disparaging remarks on our leaders,” he informed the press.
