Azimio leader Raila Odinga and other Azimio leaders are in Murang’a for a town hall meeting, just hours after local police boss David Mathiu cancelled it.
Mr Odinga was accompanied by former Murang’a Governor Mwangi wa Iria, who convened the meeting, and other Azimio leaders such as Martha Karua, George Wajackoyah, Jeremiah Kioni, Wycliffe Oparanya, and Eugene Wamalwa.
Around 11 a.m., the motorcade arrived in Murang’a town. The area was calm, with little police presence.
Wa Iria, an Odinga ally, insisted yesterday that he had informed the police about the town hall meeting. Mathiu, on the other hand, said on Thursday that he had rejected Azimio’s request to hold the gathering, calling it illegal.
Former nominated MCA Mr Habire Chege, Wa Iria’s pointman, was seen ‘mobilising’ residents to attend the meeting at the Mothers Union Hall in Murang’a town.
Mr Odinga was announced as the honoree at an anti-government rally in Murang’a town on Tuesday. The Murang’a County Security Committee declared Odinga and his political associates unwelcome in the region on Wednesday evening.
“The organisers of the meetings did not meet the Public Order dictates where notice should have been given four days in advance. They gave us two days’ notice,” he said.
To that effect, Mr Kainga said “unless the said persons will be visiting Murang’a as normal Kenyans with no intentions to honour the contents of their notice, they remain unwelcome and will not be allowed to engage in public gatherings”.
