• Sakaja said going forward, further protests and demonstrations shall similarly not take part in any part of Nairobi.
• "It has been decided that further protests and demonstrations shall similarly no longer take place in any part of the city," he said.
Image: HANDOUT
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has rebutted his Kisumu counterpart Anyang' Nyong'o's plans to 'export' demonstrators to the capital on Thursday.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sakaja said Nairobi has already borne the brunt of Azimio's mass protests the past two Mondays and is not prepared for another round of demonstrations going forward.
"The Governor of Kisumu's idea that he can export his demonstrations to Nairobi and make our county the capital of demonstrations and associated mayhem is preposterous and totally unacceptable," he said.
"In the spirit of devolution, I would advice the Governor of Kisumu, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o to keep his demonstrations to his county."
Sakaja said going forward, further protests and demonstrations shall not be allowed to take place within Nairobi County.
"It has been decided that further protests and demonstrations shall similarly no longer take place in any part of the city," he said.
This is even as the law does not grant governors powers to ban demonstrations. The mandate is solely bestowed on the CS in charge of the Interior Ministry.
This is in the event that the CS has reason to believe that there's probable malicious destruction of property by demonstrators exercising their right to picket as stated by Article 37 of the Constitution.
CAP 204 of the Protected Areas Act provides that security agencies shall prevent unauthorised access to all protected areas.
"If, as respects any area, place or premises, it appears to the Minister to be necessary or expedient in the interests of public safety and public order that special precautions should be taken to prevent the entry of unauthorised persons, he may, by order published in the Gazette, declare such area, place or premises to be a protected area for this Act."
The law further says that so long as the order is in force, no person shall be allowed entry into the protected area without the permission of the prescribed authority.
Nyong'o on Wednesday said the planned Azimio demonstrations scheduled for Thursday have been indefinitely suspended to allow residents to travel to and join the Nairobi protests.
He said the decision was arrived at after detailed consultations with the Azimio national leadership and the Kisumu County Executive Committee.
"All public demonstrations within Kisumu County have from today been suspended indefinitely so that we can join demonstrations in Nairobi," Nyong'o said.
But Sakaja said Nairobians have patiently put up with the protests and used their taxes to pay for the aftermath and are not ready for further disruptions.
"My administration is working round the clock to enable the city county serve not just Nairobi but the people of Kenya in realising their aspirations which is why we are obliged to protect lives and livelihoods," he said.
Ugly scenes were witnessed on Monday in Nairobi as demonstrators engaged police in running battles in residential areas.
Police lobbed teargas and used water cannons to prevent the group from accessing the CBD forcing Azimio leader Raila Odinga to confine his movements in Kibera.
The informal settlement later in the night experienced clashes between pro and anti-demo supporters leading to the torching of a church and several business establishments.
On Tuesday last week, Raila announced that they will be holding mass demonstrations on Mondays and Thursdays until the Kenya Kwanza government addresses their demands.
Top on his list of demands is the opening of IEBC servers, lowering of the cost of living and suspension of IEBC reconstitution and the process started afresh.