ODM members have accused their handshake counterparts of dirty politics after police stormed Kisii Governor’s house.
Amid heated Bonchari election campaigns, the police went to Governor James Ongwae house on Thursday night to disrupt a meeting.
This, the ODM party has said is the use of state machineries by Jubilee to intimidate its opponents.
UDA has also blamed police for biasness, saying that the Jubilee candidate is allowed to hold campaigns but others are disrupted.
Governor Ongwae was having a meeting with Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri and Woman Representative Janet Ongera in his house when police stormed in.
According to Ongwae, the police said that they had been informed of an illegal assembly that was taking place at his residence, which they had come to disperse.
“I am calling on President Uhuru Kenyatta to put a stop to this, elections come and go. Leaders are all transitory. Democratic institutions must be respected. 50 officers can’t storm my house as if I am a wanted criminal,” Ongwae said in a press conference on Friday.
The ODM party has condemned the happenings, accusing police of protecting Jibilee.
“We condemn in the strongest terms possible the misuse of police in the ongoing campaigns for the Bonchari by-election. Police have been throwing teargas canisters at our small-town hall meetings even and protecting the Jubilee candidate. Those involved should let the people decide,” read a statement by ODM.
The party Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna said that the police received orders from above.
“We have it on authority that as our candidate’s meetings were being disrupted, a top national government official was holed up in a secret meeting with senior government operatives in Bonchari,” Sifuna said.
The handshake pact has been fielding a common candidate in the by-elections. But in Bonchari, the duo failed to agree on a common candidate, prompting each to front their candidate.
