(KDRTV) – Deputy President William Ruto has been forced to cancel his tour of Nyamira county after police officers disrupted the venue of his meeting.
In a message on social media, the DP said he had opted to postpone the meeting to Thursday next week after consultations with three MPs on the ground.
“After consultations with MPs Kemosi, Mose, Nyamoko, the bodaboda Sacco and church leaders who had invited us, we have postponed the two functions in Nyamira County to Thursday next week,” Ruto said in a statement.
After consultations with MPs Kemosi, Mose,Nyamoko, the bodaboda sacco and church leadership who had invited us, we have postponed the two functions in Nyamira County to Thursday next week.The disruptive dispersal by police of kenyans engaged in economic empowerment is unnecessary
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) October 8, 2020
He said it was unnecessary for police to disrupt a meeting of people gathered to discuss economic empowerment.
Ruto was scheduled to arrive in Nyamira to lead a fundraiser for boda boda saccos and the SDA church. However, police officers arrived at Kebirigo Primary School at around 11 AM and told people that the meeting would not be taking place.
Truckloads of Police officers in Nyamira, at a venue where DP William Ruto is expected to lead a fundraising event, just a day after the National Security Advisory Council Committee issued a raft of directives that must be complied with by anyone convening a public meeting. pic.twitter.com/dquTgOzV0Z
— Francis Gachuri (@Fchurii) October 8, 2020
“Following that order, you have a few minutes to vacate this place as soon as you can,” a senior police officer was heard saying.
The DP’s advance team had already arrived, waiting for him to finish a Cabinet meeting in Nairobi.
Heavily armed police officers arrive at Kebirigo Primary School, Nyamira County ahead of a visit by Deputy President William Ruto. Tension has gripped the area with some youth threatening to disrupt the event
Video courtesy pic.twitter.com/0KTaMM0zVW
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 8, 2020
It is not clear which law the organizers of the meeting had violated but this was the first meeting since the National Security Advisory Committee announced that anyone intending to host a meeting must seek three-day prior permission from the relevant police station.
Nyamira. Stopping the Wheelbarrow with Gun and Muscle. Bodaboda Sacco was ready for empowerment.
Hatutishiki.
Dreams and Possibilities cannot be stopped by Guns, Teargas and tools of oppression.#HustlerNation pic.twitter.com/ubWIUPhBmw
— Dennis Itumbi, HSC (@OleItumbi) October 8, 2020
“The convener or any person intending to hold a public meeting or a public prosecution that shall notify the OCS of such intent at least three days but not more than fourteen days before the proposed date of the public meeting or procession,” head of public service Joseph Kinyua said on Wednesday.
