Tim Querengesser And Juma Namlola
19 January 2008
Nairobi — It took hundreds of them pushing and pulling with their bare hands, but the rail line finally yielded.
Odongo Obinge, a 30-year-old clothing designer who lives in Kibera, said he was part of the group that did it. "We decided to remove the railway because we were told we could not go to the rally," he said on Friday morning as he sought shelter from the rain.
On Thursday, after trapping a cargo train on the rail that runs through the core of Kibera, residents looted it of supplies before being repelled by police who fired teargas at them. Hours later they defiantly returned and flipped over several hundred metres of the track.
Standing beside the twisted rail on Friday morning, many vowed to continue destroying the line, which is part of the rail line connecting the Port of Mombasa to Kampala as well as to other lines branching to several parts of Kenya.
Meanwhile, riot police in Nairobi dispersed a demonstration called by Muslims and arrested veteran politician Martin Shikuku, only to release him later.
Religious slogans
During the more than one-and-a-half hour protest, police engaged Muslim youth in running battles from Jamia Mosque, and continued their cat and mouse chase through other streets of the city.
The Muslims protested against heavy presence of the officers who had surrounded the Mosque as they conducted Friday prayers on a tip off that they planned to join the ODM demonstrations scheduled to end Friday.
The youth defied Sheikh Khamis Khalfan's pleas to remain peaceful and started chanting religious slogans, demanding that the officers leave.
They started marching towards Uhuru Park but were confronted by other officers who hurled teargas canisters and dispersed them.
But the youth immediately regrouped outside Jamia Mosque and chanted slogans in support of ODM leader Raila Odinga as they demanded "Haki yetu!" "Haki Yetu" (Our right, Our right!).
At Muindi Mbingu Street, they were joined by Ugenya MP James Orengo who accompanied them on foot towards Jeevanjee Gardens.
Upon noticing a police dragnet near Nairobi Safari Club Hotel, Mr Orengo fled to his safety as the remaining few Muslim youth soldiered on through Monrovia Street and joined Mr Shikuku along Koinange Street.
The former Butere legislator then addressed the press at the Mokhtar Dadah junction where he accused the Government, saying : "It is our right to hold peaceful demonstrations and this act of turning our country into a police state is unacceptable," he said.
Now appearing like a lone act, the Lancaster legend moved on as police escorted him through the General Post Office and Holy Family Basilica.
Business district
At several points, police continued throwing teargas canisters at both passers-by and the few youths who continued marching alongside Mr Shikuku.
Central Police boss Tito Kilonzi, ordered his officers to arrest the former legislator, as he gave another briefing to the press.
The demonstrations paralysed business in the Central Business District as shop owners hurriedly closed down their business for fear of looting.
Both General Service Unit (GSU) and Administration Police officers patrolled the City Centre, occasionally using tear-gas and shooting in the air to disperse people who were found in the streets.
At the same time, Transport PS Gerishon Ikiara said five trains taking fuel to Uganda were halted after the rail line was destroyed at Kibera and Kibos areas.
He said transport in various areas was also disrupted, more so in western Kenya where major highways were barricaded.
Mr Ikiara, who chairs the post-election response committee on transport, said operations in the capital were initially smooth, but for protesters who engaged police in running battles, restricting flow of vehicles into the CBD.
The PS said the committee had asked traffic police not to mount unnecessary road blocks as this would prevent commuters from accessing public transport.
He reassured transporters that the Government would escort trucks on transit from Mombasa to the border.
He also said that Rift Valley Railways had dispatched experts to repair the stretches of the destroyed railway line.
Additional reporting by KNA
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