•Deputy county police commander Nicholas Nzomo said that Mombasa is peaceful and therefore there is no need for alarm.
•He called upon the residents not to be afraid of anything because the elections in the region will be peaceful.
Image: Laban Waloga
The Mombasa National Police Service have dismissed claims that Mombasa is among the hot spot areas as the country heads to the polls.
Speaking during a peaceful walk organized by the coastal region National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) leaders, deputy county police commander Nicholas Nzomo said that Mombasa is peaceful and therefore there is no need for alarm.
“As National Police Service, we are set to provide security during this time of elections, before and after and so far Mombasa County is peaceful, there is no cause for alarm. Police officers are in every corner to ensure that there is security,” he said.
Assistant County Commissioner Robin Ngeyiwo said that as the government, they will work together with NSSK during the election period in spreading peace in churches and to everyone.
“We need to do elections without violence because this is not the first elections we are having, we have done several and life went on so this too shall come to pass,” he said.
“We as the government have put in place enough mitigations including holding peaceful meetings with different people and training of police officers to be able to manage the coming elections.”
He called upon the residents not to be afraid of anything because the elections in the region will be peaceful.
“I want to urge everyone to ensure that they go back home and wait for the results after casting their votes, do not stay at the polling station.”
He said that as a government they have also tried to identify hotspot areas, places where there is doubt that violence might occur, and informed officers who will be deployed there have been informed to be alert therefore people should not be afraid.
Image: Laban Waloga
Coastal region NCCK chairman Peter Mweru said that the Friday peaceful walk is one of the events they have been doing in preaching peace across the country.
“We had meetings with different stakeholders including the bodaboda people in order to ensure that peace prevails in the country. We want to ensure that there is life after the election, therefore August 9 is not a day of life and death, it is a day of choosing leaders who will lead us in the next five years,” he said.
AS NCCK they want peace to prevail before, during and after elections this can only happen when people refuse to be involved in violence and instead spread peace.
He said that NCCK has taken the frontline where they have mobilized the peaceful walk not only in Mombasa but also in other coastal regions.
“I know there is a lot of pressure in institutions that are involved in the election process including the IEBC but we, as the religious leaders, want to assure them that we are praying for you, God, to give you the wisdom to play your role as per the law,” he said.
He said that Kenya is known to be a country of peace and will remain to be a peaceful nation therefore everyone needs to ensure that they carry out peaceful elections.
“According to research, it has been said that Mombasa is a hotspot but today we walked along the streets informing people that it is a region of peace,” he said.
He called upon youths not to be used in the wrong ways.
“We have been told that 200 and 100 notes are finished in banks, they are in our communities and that is why I am calling upon all youths not to be paid to cause violence. We have seen politicians living in peace with each other after the election, living us the victims fighting because of 100 shillings, we need to say no to violence.”
The coastal region NCCK chairman called upon politicians to do their campaigns in a peaceful way.
“You do not need to pull someone down for you to go up, we need to unite because we are all brothers. We believe that our nation will hold a peaceful election,” he said.
NCCK chairperson, Mombasa branch Peter Katana said that the region has held peaceful campaigns because of the peace campaigns that have been going on for the last three months.
"I want to call upon the youth to ensure that there is peace because nothing can be done without peace," he said.
Beatrice Anemba, a leader at the Church of God said that women in many cases have been involved in campaigns which have led to the breaking of homes.
“We have been preaching peace among women groups and even in our churches, I want to tell all women not to allow their houses to break due to politics because they are the ones who are supposed to protect their families,” she said.
“Do not allow your children to be used, help us in preaching peace because elections will come and go.”
Samwel Ogutu, chairman of the bodaboda sector, said that they will work closely with the government to ensure that any cases related to violence are reported.
“We will help in reporting any violence cases because we are the ones who will be carrying people to their different polling stations, an association that we are advocating for is peace,” he said.