Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi on Thursday denied she is the woman whose voice is heard in a video asking the police to be brutal during Tuesday's City Hall chaos.
Elachi was momentarily lost for words when the clip was played for her during an interview with Citizen Television.
In the video, a woman outside Elachi’s office is heard telling police officers during the fracas with the MCAs: “Nyonga kabisa, piga risasi”.
Citizen’s Sam Gituku: “I have reason to believe it’s your voice saying 'nyonga kabisa, piga risasi'. Why would you be leading chaos?”
This put the speaker off her guard before telling the interviewer after brief silence that she has been on his show several times.
“Please, please you must understand that I have been on your show many times,” Elachi said after regaining composure.
She denied she is the woman heard inciting the officers. “I cannot be the one saying 'piga risasi'. How would you capture my voice yet I was in my office? Can you come first and look at the assembly?”
She restated she was in the office when “they were doing all those things.”
Elachi: “So my voice is so loud it could be heard up to where they were. I believe the person who said that can be known. We have very good investigators in this country.”
She added: “Don’t ask me if it is my voice. Is that how low you have seen me? That I can really come out and tell a policeman 'piga kabisa piga risasi'?"
Police have been heavily criticised after a video showing officers clobbering Mlango Kubwa MCA Patricia Mutheu within the county assembly went viral.
Four officers are seen beating the MCA with batons as she sat on the ground begging for mercy. One of them even slapped her.
Mutheu was among the MCAs who had gone to serve Elachi with a notice of impeachment when chaos erupted after police lobbed tear gas to disperse them.
The speaker is said to have locked herself in the office so that she was not served with the notice. She then alerted the police officers to reinforce security within the Assembly.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i condemned the violence meted out against the public by the police. He ordered the disarmament of the county assembly members and announced the withdrawal of their gun licences.
Matiang'i said he was also seeking guidance from the National Security Council (NSC) over the frequent chaos at City Hall.
Women leaders, among them Gender CAS Rachel Shebesh and nominated Senator Millicent Omanga, condemned the incident and called for action against the officers involved.
- mwaniki fm
