Kenya’s Inspector General of the National Police Service Joseph Boinnet has dismissed media claims that General Service Unit (GSU) officers are being sent to Nyanza to vote.
Information on social media suggests that some of the GSU officers were sent to Nyanza and western Kenya to kill protesters, cast their ballots and stuff ballot boxes.
A video emerged showing 14 trucks carrying police officers in riot gear on a highway heading to an undisclosed location.
Watch video below:
The owners of the social media profile, who posted the minute-long video, said the trucks would head to western Kenya and Nyanza provinces ahead of the October 26 re-election.
“These are dangerous lies designed to create dissatisfaction and lack of will towards the police,” Boinnet said of police spokesman George Kinoti on Saturday.
He also clarified that the trucks seen are recruits undergoing field training in Kajiado.
“We caution social media users or anyone else to spread lies and unsubstantiated information,” he said.
This alleged misstatement is one of the things that is alleged, which is one reason why the government has advocated monitoring their use. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission earlier issued a statement saying it will actively monitor all social media platforms to prevent incitement and violence in the upcoming polls.
NCIC Commissioner Joseph Nasongo announced that all social media platforms are under surveillance. This includes WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, among others.
Kenya’s political state has become tense of late as the ruling party led by President Uhuru Kenyatta is pitted against the main opposition led by Raila Odinga.
Worst of all is the state of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), whose CEO Ezra Chiloba recently requested a three-week furlough before reelection on Thursday, October 26.
Ezra Chiloba said he took a personal decision to step down in light of the opposition’s demands, without giving further details. He said all arrangements for the election had been made as ordered by the Supreme Court. Chiloba will start his vacation on Monday.
“It’s the first time I’ve taken a vacation since my son was born. He’ll be two in two weeks,” he told media.
BuzzKenya rallied that Mr Chiloba will become the third IEBC official to already request furlough ahead of the long-awaited re-election. This came a day after Chairman Wafula Chebukati asked people to step aside.
Meanwhile, the National Super Alliance (NASA)rejected Chiloba’s decision to take a vacation. The opposition, on the other hand, has described Chiloba’s departure as one designed to fool them.
However, uncertainty about whether Raila will take part in the elections and fears that it might not be peaceful have plunged Kenya into a political crisis.
On Friday, Siaya Senator James Orengo indicated that 300 military officers were dispatched to Kisumu by the Jubilee Administration to oversee the upcoming elections.
He referred to “reliable sources” that said the officers were from Lanet barracks.
“You [President Uhuru Kenyatta] cannot militarize elections. It’s about the ballot, not the ball. Any election that the military participates in is not an election,” Orengo said in Bondo.
Added to criticism against the NationalAccording to the report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, 33 people were killed by police, but police denied this, saying only four died.
In the report, Amnesty International said that National Police Service officers must stop firing live ammunition during opposition protests and instead protect all citizens who have gathered in public.
“We have had reports of at least three deaths and live TV footage shows another man being shot in the leg. Firearms should not be used unless strictly necessary to protect life,” said Abdullahi Halakhe, Amnesty International’s East Africa researcher.
“The indiscriminate use of live ammunition is totally unacceptable. Firearms must never be used to disperse crowds. “