• Teams campaigning for two former PSs Wairagu wa Maai and Irungu Nyakera clashed in Gaturi ward on Sunday and fights broke out.
• Ten youths sustained injuries and several campaign vehicles were vandalised.
Image: Alice Waithera
Police in Murang’a want politicians to inform them three days in advance before holding campaign rallies.
The caveat comes after supporters of two governor aspirants clashed on Sunday, resulting in the injury of 10 youths.
Supporters of former PSs Wairagu Wa Maai and Irungu Nyakera fought during their campaigns in Mahua-ini, Gaturi.
Murang’a East subcounty police commander Mary Wakuu said 10 youths sustained injuries and were issued with P3 forms to enable them to seek treatment at Murang’a Level 5 Hospital.
“We are conducting investigations to determine who started the fight that caused injuries inflicted by machetes and appropriate action will be taken,” Wakuu said.
The police boss said politicians will now have to inform the police in advance before undertaking their campaigns so they can be provided with security.
Speaking after recording a statement at Murang’a police station, Nyakera said seven members of his team were attacked with pangas by Wairagu’s supporters.
Six of them have however been discharged while one is still admitted due to internal bleeding, he said.
He said the fracas left three of his campaign vehicles and public address equipment vandalised.
He said police should take action against those who initiated the fight.
He said he will follow up on the matter until it reaches IEBC.
“Just last week, we met with IEBC and pledged to conduct peaceful campaigns so anybody incriminated in actions that cause chaos should be arrested and the law followed,” Nyakera said.
“In the meeting with IEBC, we were told to give our daily routes, but that is only when campaigns officially start on May 29. Right now, we don’t give our routes. I have been going round all the wards and Gaturi was my last one.”
Image: Alice Waithera
He said on Sunday morning, he had information that Wairagu’s team would also be in the ward and he told his team to liaise with them and agree on which route each team would take.
“When they collided, Wairagu’s team said it was the one supposed to be in the area and even switched off my team’s generators. My team then went to their vehicles and switched off their generator," Nyakera said.
"They then found my team in Kaweru addressing residents and they put on their loudspeakers which disrupted them and the fights started.”
But Wairagu’s team accused Nyakera’s supporters of blocking them from addressing residents in several areas before the fracas started.
Murathi Magochi, a youth, said they have been acquiring permits for all their routes and there were public announcements that they would be campaigning in Gaturi on Sunday.
“The people who had turned up in Mahua-ini and Kaweru where the fights happened had gone to listen to Wairagu, not Nyakera,” he said.
Murathi said they received information that Nyakera’s vehicles had been parked in Mahua-ini and when they got there, Nyakera’s team switched off their generator and snatched a microphone from one of them.
He said he was not at the scene but when he got there, they attacked him and he fell as he ran away.
“I sustained injuries on my hands as I ran. Could I have run away if I had caused the fights?” Murathi asked.
He claimed they moved to the next stopover where both teams attempted to address residents before Wairagu arrived at the scene and made his address peacefully.
Three youths from the team sustained injuries.
Ahadi Kenya CEO Stanley Kamau, who stepped down from the race two months ago, termed the chaos an act of thuggery.
He urged the IEBC to take action against any candidate whose supporters are involved in any violence.
“I urge IEBC chairperson to establish a team to investigate such incidences and pinpoint who is involved, and culprits disqualified from running,” Kamau said.
Edited by A.N