The Kenyan government has yet again come under scathing attack following its continued use of police to scuttle demonstrations staged by the opposition (Cord).
Police on Monday teargassed yet again peaceful protestors who had come out to call for the disbandment of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission notably in Nairobi and Kisumu.
But renowned philanthropist and aspiring Borabu Mp Nyandoro Kambi has accused the government of using the police to break the law by infringing on people rights of freely assembling and picketing.
“I am really shocked by the manner in which the state is using the police to blatantly break the law. The constitution allows people to assemble and picket freely and that cannot be disputed,” he said on Monday at Nyamira.
“It’s wrong to use the police to do wrong because this isn’t a banana republic. I expected police to only handle people who are demonstrating violently but going to an extent of tear gassing peaceful demonstrators is an indication that the government is going towards a wrong direction,” he said.
He challenged the Jubilee government to respect the law by allowing the police to give security to peaceful demonstrators rather than oppressing them.
“I only used to see people manhandled in the 80's and 90's when we didn’t have a constructive law in place but it’s really disappointing that even with the new constitution," said Nyandoro.
"The police can be used carelessly to break the law. This habit must stop because we expect officers to provide security during such peaceful demos,” he said.