Shame as Gladys Wanga and Kaluma unleash violence against freedom

Youths engage at Nyandiwa shopping center in Homabay County after goons stoned Linda Mwanachi convoy ahead of their rallies in Homabay town.[Sammy Omingo]

The war alarm bells had been loud and in full glare of cameras, and so is the police inaction on leaders who openly advocated for violence against the Linda Mwananchi brigade ahead of the rally in Homa Bay, in a blatant abuse of the law, rationality and tolerance.For a region that has evolved into one of the cradles of democracy, trailblasers like the late Phoebe Asiyo and the father of democracy, the late Raila Odinga, are probably frowning in disappointment in their graves at the embarrassing scenes orchestrated by politicians they nurtured as champions of democracy but have morphed into political intolerants.

Here, armed goons had been mobilised in their numbers, deployed in strategic locations, and directed not to allow the Linda Mwanainchi leaders to access the county and campaign.

The goon activity in Homa Bay town brought the town to a standstill for the entire day. Nearly all businesses remained closed as armed goons roamed the streets, attacking those perceived to be against President William Ruto.

The chaotic scenes yesterday is expected to elicit fresh debate on political intolerance, the dedication of authorities to provide a level playing ground for all political players, and the laxity by the police in reining in on goonism that has evolved into a key weapon for politicians to counter opponents.

Although the plan to block opposition principals Edwin Sifuna, James Orengo, Babu Owino, among others, from conducting rallies in the county ultimately failed, critics described the political rhetoric that had been pushed by ODM chairperson Gladys Wanga, Homa Bay Town MP Opondo Kaluma, and Homa Bay Majority leader Richard Ogindo as unacceptable and a dangerous precedent.

Critics and the opposition accused the leaders of setting the ground for the attacks their convoys faced. For the better part of the week, the leaders have been in whirlwind mobilisation efforts across the county and urging the residents to reject the opposition.

For Wanga, she had even offered to pay residents not to attend the Linda Mwananchi rallies as Kaluma declared the phrase “One term” a prohibited term in the region and had claimed it amounted to incitement.

And yesterday, the fangs of goonism reared their ugly head once again as goons targeted the Linda Mwananchi brigade and blocked several roads across the country, sparking outrage from residents and leaders from the region, including those who have not aligned with the opposition.

In a statement, Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga described the turn of events as an insult to democracy. “Watching what unfolded in Homa Bay -youth mobilised and paid to disrupt a lawful, notified political gathering, journalists beaten for doing their jobs, a whole town shut by fear, I have to believe my father and his generation are turning in their graves,” she said, adding that political disagreements should be settled with argument and not stones and machetes.

Similarly, Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo challenged Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to take responsibility as she condemned the trajectory politics had taken.

“CS Murkomen, the issue of security starts and stops with you. When the people of Homa Bay harm each other, the buck stops with you,” said Millie.

Earlier, hired goons had barricaded roads with stones and boulders, a hotel was looted and vandalised, as well as an attempted attack on Linda Mwananchi's convoy, as political intolerance believed to have been fueled by politicians rocked Homa Bay.

The development turned Homa Bay town into a scene a kin of a battlefield as goons barricaded roads leading to the town with boulders, stones and twigs. Goons moved around the town while hunting for people who were backing the opposition.

At the Homa Bay bus park, hundreds of passengers were left stranded and forced to seek refuge from the group of goons that were on the prawl, hunting down perceived critics of President Ruto.

Passengers who were traveling from Nairobi to various parts of Homa Bay bore the brunt of the violence. Several passengers who were going to Mbita Sub-county were stranded in Homa Bay town as some buses sought refuge at Homa Bay police station.

Emily Aloo, a passenger who was going to bury her mother-in-law at Kasgunga village in Mbita Sub-county, expressed concerns that the violence deterred her from attending the burial in time.

"We left Nairobi yesterday at 9 pm but have been forced to stay in Homa Bay for the entire day," Aloo said.

Journalists too were not spared as the goons attacked AFP's Fred Ooko and Brian Ongoro and robbed their equipment. Ooko sustained injuries on his arms as a result of the attack.

A day before the rally, mobilised goons had ransacked hotels while claiming to be hunting for supporters and leaders of the Linda Mwananchi group.

At Homa Bay Tourist Hotel, youth who were armed with crude weapons raided the hotel and looted almost all property.

According to the hotel proprietor, Otieno Odongo, a group of about 50 youths first raided the hotel at 1.30 pm and had demanded to know if there were members of the Linda Mwananchi movement who were in the hotel. But when they ascertained that they were not there, they left.

 “They were looking for members of the Linda Mwananchi movement whom they did not find,” Otieno said.

Later, after 4 p.m, about 100 youths returned to the hotel and carried out the raid. They first chased the security guard and gained entry.

“The armed youth chased everybody in the hotel. They went into rooms before resorting to looting and destruction of the hotel property,” Odongo said.

The youth also destroyed CCTV cameras. They also removed items and switched off all lights in the hotel.

Odongo reported the matter to Homa Bay Police Station. At about 8 pm, a group of youth were seen carrying a crocodile statue believed to have been looted from the hotel.

The incident happened after Kaluma was captured on video telling ODM supporters to raid hotels and do away with Linda Mwananchi members who had booked any hotel in Homa Bay.  Kaluma said they did not welcome anybody, saying one term in the county.

He had told his supporters not to spare people who support the one-term slogan in the area and had declared the one-term as a banned phrase in the area.

But as this happened, the silence of authorities on the inflammatory speeches that had been made by some of the leaders, including Kaluma, was loud.  Even the ever-quick-to-condemn politicians and issue summons, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), also took a backseat as tensions flared and mobilised goons hurled stones at the opposition.

For an entire week, they had been rallying youths to block the opposing leaders from accessing Homa Bay.

Kaluma was more brazen. A day before the rally, Kaluma had called on residents to face off with anyone chanting anti-Ruto slogans and declared that they had commanded their troops to attack anyone chanting one-term.

“From today, we are giving the command that anyone who says one term pass with them. If you are among us and you worked for the other side, and you don’t think you can walk with us, disappear,” Kaluma said.

As part of an effort to calm tensions, police officers arrested at least.

Business was paralysed in Homa Bay town the whole of Sunday. All shops were closed the whole day. Even open-air markets were not operating.

"We have not done any business in this town. My children will go hungry today," said Eunice Auma, a trader.

Yesterday, goons barricaded Ndhiwa and attacked the Linda Mwanainchi brigade, forcing them to use an alternative route.

Speaking at Ndhiwa after the convoy was blocked, Orengo condemned the incident, saying the movement had encountered what he described as organised groups seeking to disrupt their journey.

“Every place we have passed since we entered Homa Bay is ‘Wantam’, but these goons who have been organised to hit our cars and interfere with our convoy, this is not the Kenya we want,” Orengo said.

Orengo also accused police officers of failing to provide adequate protection to the convoy, claiming that they had been overwhelmed by the groups blocking their way.

“The police officers have surrendered to the goons at Ndhiwa, aren’t helping us. We did everything to plan for this, but we are determined to get to Homa Bay,” he said.

The confrontation briefly disrupted the convoy’s movement, with police officers deploying to escort the leaders and their supporters through Ndhiwa as tensions remained high.

Former Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati said the disruption would not stop the movement from reaching its destination, noting that the team had held peaceful rallies in other parts of the country.

A section of leaders from the region who were not part of the rally condemned the violence that was witnessed in Homa Bay and described it as unfortunate.