There was drama at Sarova Panafric Hotel in Nairobi last Sunday after East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member Simon Mbugua was blocked from addressing a press conference from the venue.
Mbugua had on Friday paid Sh30, 000 to reserve a room for the presser but was informed on Saturday that the booking had been canceled due to security concerns.
When journalists arrived at the venue about 10.30 am, security officers turned them away saying there was no such event scheduled to be covered.
At 20 minutes past eleven, the MP arrived but was barred from entering the venue even as hawk-eyed police officers in both uniform and plain clothes kept vigil.
Mbugua was forced to address journalists at a petrol station near the venue, where he accused police chiefs of being used for political reasons.“The country now is at risk of degenerating back to the bad old days where freedom of expression was curtailed as police arrested critics arbitrary,” he said while pointing fingers at Interior Affairs and Coordination of government Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho and senior security chiefs.
After the address, Mbugua accosted police officers who had surrounded him daring them to arrest him. “I don’t fear anything. Just arrest me now if I have committed any crime. Why are you being used to harass me? What I have down to deserve this?
You are the faces of impunity,” he shouted as the cops just guessed at him.
He claimed his tribulations emanate from his closeness with Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and their support for Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid while adding that his life was now in danger.