The Nairobi Regional Police Commander, Adamson Bungei, has now stated that opposition protests will not be permitted in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
Despite Azimio’s notice that they will take to the streets on Tuesday, Commander Bungei stated on Sunday that they will not be allowed to protest because they have not demonstrated goodwill in previous demonstrations.
According to Commander Bungei, Azimio did not meet the threshold of peaceful protests outlined in Section 37 of the constitution and Section 5 of the Public Order Act.
Bungei claims Azimio violated Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which permits peaceful, unarmed protests.
“As much as you are allowed by article 37 (to protest) there is also subsection 5 of the same that allows the police to regulate the same procession,” he said.
“Assemblies which are not peaceful are excluded from protection of the article. Once you do not meet the requirements of section 5 then we have the mandate to ensure that it is regulated and managed.”
Bungei also stated that Azimio’s protests resulted in the destruction of property and the loss of lives, rendering them unfit to hold another protest.
“Previous demonstrations were marred with violence as the demonstrators were armed with machetes and attacked members of the public resulting in the destruction of public property and loss of lives,” stated Bungei.
“By this, we are declining to allow the Azimio team the go-ahead to proceed with the demonstration and any such demonstration will be dispersed by law enforcement officers.”
The Nairobi police chief stated that law and order would be enforced to “ensure Kenyans’ safety.”
“This indicates very clearly to Kenyans of goodwill that there will be no demonstrations in the city of Nairobi.”
Azimio threatened to resume protests after the Kenya Kwanza coalition allegedly failed to commit to holding constructive bipartisan talks.
