Undercover Cops Target Azimio Politicians in Newspaper Vendor Disguise
Members of the County Assembly of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition alleged that police officers posing as newspaper vendors targeted them in Nairobi.
On Saturday, July 22, the Azimio la Umoja Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) revealed in a joint statement that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is employing new tactics, including kidnapping and disguising themselves as ordinary Kenyans before attacking opposition politicians.
The MCAs disclosed that the State had launched a manhunt for all Azimio-affiliated leaders and that at least five Members of the Nairobi County Assembly had been detained and transported to unknown locations.
“Nairobi City County MCAs aligned with the Azimio have been the biggest victims of the hunt by security-forces-turned-thugs who now roam the streets of Nairobi posing as journalists, newspaper vendors, photographers, or hawkers to kidnap and torture MCAs whose only crime is that they were elected by Azimio constituent parties,” the statement read in part.
In a statement released by Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai, the leaders claimed that some of them were on their way to their offices when officers stopped them and abducted them in broad daylight.
Reportedly, some MCAs were questioned about their political activities before being forcibly transported away in unmarked Subaru vehicles.
“Within the past 72 hours, MCAs Wilfred Odalo (Mabatini), Redson Onyango (Ngei), Peter Imwatok (Makongeni), Peter Owera (Huruma), and Alvin Palapala (Kitusuru), among others, have been abducted from the street.
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“The street abductions targeting members of the Nairobi City County Assembly also targeted innocent bystanders like Eric Otieno (Fiscal Analyst), Anthony Otsyula (Budget Office), and Victor Obel, whose only crime is that their names sound like they are MCAs from the assembly when, in fact, they are just professionals in the county assembly with no interest in party politics,” read the statement by MCAs.
The MCAs asserted that the enforcement has been concentrated in low-income areas of the county where low-income earners reside and work.
MCAs from Azimio la Umoja warned that the current onslaught across the county and the entire nation poses a grave threat to the very fabric of Kenyan society.
“What is the name of the offense of strolling while elected through Azimio? Which judicial code statute prohibits this? Which article of the constitution prohibits members of the Azimio coalition from conducting business in the city?
“Do you believe, in your wildest fantasies, that we can be intimidated into abandoning our coalition? Do you honestly believe we can accomplish that? Maybe with MPs, but not with MCAs?” questioned the MCAs.
Additionally, they emphasized that they are unlikely to be intimidated because they have been targeted previously.
The MCAs stated that the atrocities in Kibra, Kawangware, Kangemi, Huruma, Mathare, and Dandora in Nairobi and Kondele and Nyalenda in Kisumu are a cruel betrayal of hustlers.
Undercover Cops Target Azimio Politicians in Newspaper Vendor Disguise