Chaos marred the first day of the United Opposition team’s campaigns in Nyamira and Kisii counties on Monday, with fears of three fatalities.
A Probox car allegedly ferrying goons was torched in Keroka town, while violence was witnessed in Kisii town after a group of men armed with crude weapons began patrolling the town centre.
It is alleged that over 200 youths were mobilised by a senior politician from the region to block the opposition leaders and their supporters from accessing the town centre.
The goons patrolled the town as tension rose, with police keeping a safe distance during the morning hours, and traders closing their businesses for fear of looting.
However, in the afternoon, a group of opposition supporters arrived and began confronting them.
It was then that some of them were cornered by the charging mob, leaving over 10 of them with varying injuries. By Monday evening, the injured were rushed to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital for treatment.
A medic at KTRH reported that over 10 were attended to, with four of them being in critical condition.
Kisii county Police Commander Ronald Kirui, however, denied any reports of violence or injuries despite the witness accounts.
“By last evening at 11 pm, the OCS had not received a single report of injury or fatality. This morning, we just finished a brief with IPOA and no cases of mob-violence was reported,” Kirui said.
Asked about the presence of armed goons in Kisii town on Monday ahead of the opposition team’s arrival, the police boss said they were not aware.
“We didn’t get any reports of goons in town,” he said.
Opposition leaders who included former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, ex-DP Rigathi Gachagua, ex-Interior CS Fred Matiang’i, ex-Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa, ex-Agriculture CS Peter Munya, Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, among others, are in Gusii region for a three-day tour.
As they approached Kisii town after holding rallies in Ekerenyo, Kijauri, Keroka and Keumbu, the team was confronted by a group of Kisii National Polytechnic students who were pelting them with stones.
Police were forced to use teargas canisters to disperse the students, clearing the road for the leaders and their supporters to access the town and eventually Gusii stadium for their last event of the day.
After the rally, which ended around 7 pm, reports emerged that one of the offices of Kisii Governor Simba Arati situated inside Gusii stadium had been attacked and set on fire.
A local media house showed images of part of it being set on fire.
Today, the leaders will begin their rallies in Nyamira town in West Mugirango in the morning, before going to Marani in Kitutu Chache North, Nyakoe in Kitutu Chache South, Suneka in Bonchari, before concluding their day at Nyamarambe in South Mugirango.
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