Bernard Namunane
18 January 2008
Nairobi — PNU MPs and those from affiliate parties that support President Kibaki's re-election said ODM leaders were to blame for the protests that led to the deaths.
"It is selfish in the extreme for ODM leaders to continue calling Kenyans out on the streets to attract sympathy and attention of the international community," said Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri at a press conference also attended by legislators Danson Mungatana, Beth Mugo, Abu Chiaba, Dick Wathika and Erastus Mureithi.
But their opponents insisted that the Government was responsible for the violence and the deaths.
The lawmakers from the two sides stepped out of an induction session at Parliament Buildings to react to the violence that occurred during the first two days of protests called by ODM.
The countrywide mass action that ends Friday was called to protest at the Electoral Commission of Kenya's declaration of Mr Kibaki as winner of the presidential election. The ECK has since admitted that there were flaws in the tallying of the results.
ODM and election observers have complained of differences in some of the final results announced by commissioners and those read out at the constituencies.
Led by Muhoroni MP Ayiecho Olweny, the ODM leaders claimed that the police were wantonly killing innocent people in his constituency and demanded an end to the brutality.
"Innocent people were beaten senseless by police officers. I have reports that some have been killed but police don't want to admit that," he said. Prof Olweny was accompanied by his Kisumu Town East and West counterparts Shakeel Shabir and Olago Aluoch respectively.
The Government MPs, who said they had seen the disturbing magnitude of suffering during their visits to the Rift Valley, called for peace as a political solution was being sought.
They asked ODM leaders to put into practice the tenets of democracy they were championing by ending calls for mass protests and seeking a solution through dialogue.
"They must realise that those who voted for ODM and PNU are all Kenyans and need to earn a livelihood," said the statement read by Mr Kiunjuri.
He and Mrs Mugo claimed that the swearing-in of MPs in Parliament on Tuesday had endorsed President Kibaki's mandate.
Mr Mungatana asked the United States and the European Union to investigate the claims that were being made against the Government before making judgements.
Mr Shabir condemned the shooting to death of a youth in Kisumu on Wednesday and demanded that the police officers involved be prosecuted.
'We saw TV footage showing the police shooting at the youth as he fled and wounding him. As he struggled to his feet, they gunned him down again. Not only once but twice," he said.
ODM press secretary Salim Lone echoed the sentiments and asked the Government to take action against the official who had issued the shoot-to-kill order.
"This killing and other acts of violence are being inflicted on innocent people seeking justice," he said.
Quell unrest
Mr Aluoch asked why the police were killing residents of Kisumu while using other methods to quell unrest in other parts of the country.
"We gave the police notice of the demonstrations on time and our people went about it peacefully. Why are they being killed? Is this extermination discriminative?" he asked.
The Ufungamano Initiative also asked the police to stop using excessive force to deal with the protests. The leaders, who spoke in Nairobi, blamed the police for some of the killings during the protests and said this would not bring peace.
They were led by Bishop Gideon Ireri (Anglican), Dan M'Masi (Seventh Day Adventist), Martin Kivuva (Kenya Episcopal Conference), Mr John Muriuki and Mr Charles Wambugu, the secretary of the Ufungamano Initiative.
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