NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 30 – Members of the Nairobi County Assembly allied to the Azimio la Umoja coalition are now demanding for the immediate release of their Korogocho counterpart Absalom Odhiambo Onyango, who has been detained at the Kiambu police station over inflammatory remarks he made during last week’s Kamukunji rally.
The MCA popularly known as Matach was picked by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) sleuths at the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) offices where he had been summoned over his inciting remarks.
At the time of arrest, the MCA was accompanied by his lawyer Apollo Mboya and Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Peter Imwatok who revealed that they found three Subaru foresters and officers outside NCIC offices, who grabbed the Korogocho legislator and sped away with him.
Following the abrupt arrest, the Azimio MCAs led by Imwatok, have condemned the incident, terming it as dictatorial tactics.
“After the two rallies we have had our elected members are being harassed, all I can say is that dictatorship is back , the Moi era is back but we are saying we want the Korogocho member released unconditionally within 12 hours,” stated Imwatok.
According to Imwatok, the MCA is being held at Kikuyu police station in Kiambu and no one has been allowed to visit him.
Imwatok however dared the government not to harass a mere MCA and instead arrest the convener of the rallies, Raila Odinga.
“We challenge the entire government to arrest Raila Odinga because that’s the man who tells us what to do,” he said.
Matach’s arrest was after a viral video captured at the Kamukunji rally where he uttered unprintable words criticising the Kenya Kwanza government amid a stirred up crowd of Azimio supporters.
He was thus summoned by the Rev. Samuel Kobia-led commission which stated that such comments created unnecessary tension that if not well managed could plunge the country into chaos.
