Cotu boss Francis Atwoli. [Photo/The Star]
Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli says its NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga’s right to reject the poll results if he wasn’t satisfied with the outcome as announced by the IEBC on Friday last week.
Atwoli at the same time has condemned the police over their reaction to NASA protestors who were aggrieved by the results and were exercising their democratic right through peaceful protests.
“I am not saying that Raila should concede. He has a right to reject the results, but Kenyans should not suffer from police brutality because of exercising their democratic right to protest peacefully,” said Atwoli as quoted by the Nation.
He said it pains the union that the innocent lives lost as a result of police
He asked acting Interior CS Fred Matiang’i to ensure the current situation is handled in a manner that will see the police uphold the rule of law devoid of killing of innocent Kenyans.
“We don't want incitement from anyone and this time round, police are inciting people by shooting and killing them for exercising their democratic right to protest,” he said.
He also asked the IG Joseph Boinnet to order his officers to stop killing and harassing innocent people.
“From tomorrow (Monday), we want to see Kenyans going about their businesses without intimidation and harassment from police. We don’t want to see workers locked up in their houses (unable) go to work,” noted the Cotu boss.
He appealed to all political leaders to embrace peace stating that every election cannot be followed by violence.
Atwoli also wants the IEBC to explain to Kenyans what happened to their technology, and why they had printed excess ballot papers.