Police plan for possible chaos during nominations

Top police bosses in Nairobi met Monday to plan how to secure political party nominations that start this week.

Authorities are worried about the possibility of chaos, aspirants' rivalry and anger over what is often seen as the unfair award of direct tickets.

Past party nominations have ended in violence, supporters of losing aspirants often disputing the results and rioting.

The Monday meeting was convened by Nairobi regional police boss James Mugera at his office and was attended by all subcounty police commanders and their counterparts from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. 

“We met to discuss the political campaigns and other issues affecting the city. Planning is good,” Mugera said.

It was agreed that more officers be mobilised and deployed to various perceived hotspots to tame any form of hooliganism.

There are fears of violence caused by youths paid by politicians.

Police and other security agencies have been mobilised and strategically deployed ahead of primaries that are expected to be hotly contested.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Friday said a multi-agency security team had already mapped out potential flash points in the nominations.

They must be concluded by April 24, according to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission timelines.

The CS spoke at a meeting with the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya. He said a special deployment plan will be executed alongside heightened surveillance of political activities and a crackdown on hate speech and incitement.

“We have our plans for ensuring the nominations, like any other elections-related activity, are conducted in an environment of peace. We are continuously assessing the levels of vulnerability to security challenges during this season and adjusting our strategies accordingly,” Matiang'i said. 

He expressed concern that the prolonged political campaigns are exerting a heavy strain on the police and other security resources as more officers are being dedicated to dealing with campaign-related conflicts.

He urged the IEBC to strictly enforce the elections calendar especially on the official campaigning window, saying protracted politicking was unhealthy to national and families’ economy.

Inclusive debate on election laws and campaign financing rules, which should have regulated spending by politicians, is also encouraging violent conflicts on sharing of bribery money among mobilised crowds, the CS said.

“We have been in campaign mode in the past four years. What follows is violent confrontations arising from disagreements in sharing of campaign bribes.

"We have had to commit more resources into managing charged crowds and containing the resultant clashes, and this has strained the resources we have at our disposal,” he said.

The IRCK, through chairperson Rev Father Joseph Mutie, sought appraisal of the security preparedness for the August polls. He specifically asked about ethnic mobilisation undermining cohesion, security and peace.

The council also sought the CS’s guarantees that police and other security agencies will remain neutral during the elections and that IEBC staff will be provided with adequate security.

Matiang’i said the government will meet IEBC security needs as requested by the commission and urged religious leaders to commit more efforts to peace and reconciliation.

The meeting was attended by Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai and senior religious leaders.

(Edited by V. Graham)