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Five people, including a policeman and a former Member of Parliament, were seriously injured when crowds tried to disrupt an Orange rally in Wajir yesterday.


Former Wajir East MP Abdi Salan Mohammed, who is in the No camp, bleeds after he was hit with a stone in running battles between Banana proponents and their Orange counterparts in Wajir Town yesterday.

The Orange team, comprising Cabinet ministers Raila Odinga, Jebii Kilimo and Najib Balala and Kanu chairman Uhuru Kenyatta and secretary-general William Ruto, watched as police battled the crowds.

The team had taken the No campaign to Regional Development minister Mohammud Abdi�s backyard in a bid to woo some of the 82, 000 registered voters in the district into rejecting the Wako Draft at the November 21 referendum.

But as the politicians started addressing the crowds, supporters of the Banana team started waving banners and chanting: "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The Orange supporters then started chanting "Maya! Maya! Maya! (No! No! No!)" and the shouting match soon degenerated into a free for all.

The rival camps used an array of missiles, including stones, sand and sticks, to fell and beat their targets.

Labour Assistant minister Mohammed Khalif, who was the host in his home district, was seen pleading with the

police to repulse the surging mob as missiles flew past the dais.

Anti-riot police, backed by prison warders, regular and administration police and reservists, then moved in, clobbering and dispersing the Banana supporters.

Wajir Stadium was left looking like a battlefield with trails of blood, used teargas canisters and spent cartridges scattered all over.

Former Wajir East MP, Abdisalan Mohammed, and a police inspector, Jean Kemboi, were among those injured in the fracas.

Last night, The Standard confirmed that Kemboi, who broke a collarbone, was being transferred to Nairobi for further treatment.

Some of those injured in yesterday�s fracas were treated at the district hospital.

Area police chief Julius Kitili said six people, including two teachers, had been arrested in connection with the bloody confrontation.

A statement issued by Police spokesman Jaspher Ombati last evening said the six had been charged in a Wajir court with creating a disturbance. The statement added that a councillor had been arrested later and would be charged with assaulting a police officer and creating a disturbance.

"We wish to further reiterate that police will continue to take action against any person who will attempt to disrupt campaign meetings," Ombati said.

Yesterday�s disruption of the Orange rally was apparently in retaliation to an incident a fortnight ago where No supporters stoned five Cabinet ministers campaigning for the Yes vote.

The violence accentuated a fresh escalation just days after the start of the official campaign period. Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman, Samuel Kivuitu, had earlier warned that he would not entertain any further hostilities.

Earlier, the stabbing of a security guard at a local lodge where Khalif was organising the rally had cast a dark shadow over the meeting. Police say the guard was stabbed as he tried to restrain a crowd that was demanding cash from the Wajir West MP.

Once calm had been restored at the stadium, Raila lashed out at his Regional Development counterpart for moving from the opposition to the Government of National Unity.

"Mohammud behaved like a hyena scavenging for carcasses that are far-apart," he told the crowd.

He said it was disheartening to see the MP (Mohammud) abandon his people to a "losing bandwagon".

"The croaking frogs cannot not the stop campaign," he said.

He said the Bomas Draft had agitated for a federal system of government, but a clique of a few individuals wanted to lump power on one person.

Kilimo said the proponents of the Wako Draft had admitted the draft was 20 per cent flawed; yet they wanted it passed.

It would be difficult to amend the contentious issues once passed, she said. She said the draft was not specific on number of women representatives in Parliament.

Balala said passing the draft would allow Muslim rights to be trampled further.

He said the Kadhis� courts had been reduced to irrelevance with the introduction of Christian courts.

Uhuru accused President Kibaki of abusing democracy by poaching opposition MPs to his wrangling coalition.

He said the Wako Draft did not cater for the marginalised communities, yet Mohammud supported it "blindly".

He asked residents to receive relief handouts the Government was dishing out but vote No; saying food was their fundamental right.

Ruto said the banana camp had not told the residents what was good in the draft.



Source:The East Standard of Kenya