Kisumu — The National Police Service has deployed dozens of police officers to man checkpoints on key roads leading to both State House Nairobi and Kisumu in a bid to counter anticipated demonstrations.
Units from regular and administration police barricaded key roads in Nairobi and Mombasa as a 14-day ultimatum for mass protests led by opposition leader Raila Odinga came to and end.
Odinga had vowed to lead his supporters in protests if President William Ruto declines to suspend the impending recruitment of new members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
In Nairobi, the entire section of State House Road beginning from Serena Hotel was under police surveillance.
The situation was replicated in Kisumu where police deployed on strategic roads despite there being no indication of President Ruto's arrival in the lakeside city.
Along Kisumu's State House Road, no vehicles were allowed. Motorists heading to Milimani estate were forced to find alternative routes.
However, Kisumu remained calm with residents going on with their businesses.
Odinga's supporters were on Wednesday waiting for the final word from him regarding the planned protests.
Some parents in Kisumu failed to take their children to school in fear of being caught up in the demos, which were widely expected to commence on Wednesday.
President Ruto has rubbished Odinga's ultimatum showing unwillingness to engage the veteran opposition leader whom he has repeatedly told off for seeking to destabilize the country.
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Odinga, who enjoyed State backing under President Uhuru Kenyatta, has refused to acknowledge Ruto's presidency despite losing a Supreme Court petition against the then Deputy President William Ruto.
The August 2022 presidential election was endorsed by observers as the most credible in the country's history yet.
IEBC Selection Panel
Odinga has contested the ongoing recruitment of IEBC commissioners terming the process as flawed.
The recruitment of the panel followed the declaration of seven vacancies in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
The slots became vacant after the tenure of three commissioners -- Wafula Chebukati (Chairperson), Boya Molu and Yakub Guliye -- came to and end.
Three others -- Juliana Cherera (Vice Chairperson), Francis Wanderi and Justus Nyang'aya -- resigned after Ruto appointed a tribunal to probe their conduct.
Cherera, Wanderi and Nyang'aya were part of a dissenting faction which included Irene Masit that disowned the outcome of the presidential election.
Witnesses who appeared before the tribunal led by Justice Aggrey Muchelule accused the Cherera faction of seeking to moderate election results to overturn Ruto's victory.
Masit, the only commissioner who faced the tribunal, denied the allegations during a hearing concluded in February.
