Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid during a past media briefing. [Photo/ Maxwell Ngala]
Human rights defenders at the Coast have strongly condemned Friday killings in Nairobi where NASA supporters clashed with police officers while receiving opposition leader Raila Odinga.
The activists said that the clashes were unnecessary and would only trigger more hatred and political division in the country.
Led by Haki Africa’s Executive Director Hussein Khalid, the rights defenders said the reported killings of at least five people were uncalled for as the supporters were conducting a peaceful procession.
Khalid said police should desist from using lethal force against peaceful political supporters.
“We have so far not detected any reason that triggered such clashes, our fear is that such political conflicts will divide the country further,” he said.
Khalid said top police officers should not act in a manner that is dividing the country further, but should instead protect such gatherings especially if the supporters assemble in a peaceful manner.
“We thought the only forbidden and protected area was the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, but the clashes escalated to the city centre,” added Khalid.
I urge the government to work towards uniting Kenyans and not instilling fear and more divisions among us,” he added.
His sentiments were echoed by international human rights body Amnesty International which appealed to the government to desist from killing and injuring innocent Kenyans.
Amnesty International East Africa researcher Abdullahi Halakhe said the country was not heading in the right direction with such killings.
“We recorded a total of 66 deaths during the August 8 general election and we are still recording more incidents as a result of police brutality in Kenya,” said Halakhe in a statement.
Meanwhile, Khalid has appealed to Kenyans to remain calm as the country awaits the Supreme Court's verdict on the presidential petition.