[Supporters lift hands to greet Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho and his Taita Taveta counterpart John Mruttu, at past. Photo/facebook]
Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho has condemned an incident, where General Service Unit (GSU) officers disrupted an ODM rally in Kinango, Kwale County, Thursday.
Participants were forced to flee, as teargas canisters were lobbed at them, also preventing Joho's helicopter from landing, to address the rally.
''I am deeply saddened. The General Service Unit officers have violently disrupted our ODM meeting in Kinango, Kwale. The noble people of Kwale were forced to flee like strangers while in their own home,'' he said.
He noted that the Constitution of Kenya guarantees as a basic human right in Chapter 4, Article 37, that every Kenyan has the right, while peaceable and unarmed, to assemble, picket, demonstrate and present petitions.
''This Jubilee administration has yet again shown that it does not and will not respect the law of the land. That the sanctity of the document they swore to uphold and defend before millions of Kenyans is nothing but a piece of paper to them.''
He demanded that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) review the circumstances and chain of command surrounding the incident and prosecute the legal violations.
''To the police, do not allow yourselves to be used in an illegal manner. It lowers the dignity you fight so hard to preserve.''
Speaking after the chaos, Joho added: "I wish to promise Kenyans on behalf of the incoming ODM/Nasa government 8/8/2017, that we shall never use the police in this manner but only to protect the lives of our citizens.''