In response to Raila Odinga’s Azimio’s letter, Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei has informed the police of the protests scheduled for the following week in accordance with the law.
Bungei contends that Raila’s letter informing the police of the protests for the following week is invalid.
Raila informed the Police Chief yesterday of their intention to hold a peaceful procession on Monday and Thursday of next week in Nairobi city through Azimio Executive Council Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya.
In the letter, Oparanya requested that Mr. Bungei send out enough police officers to provide security because their procession would pass through all of the main streets in the Nairobi Central Business District.
Bungei asserts that the notification letter was sent to the incorrect person.
He pointed out that the Azimio team should have instead sent the letter to the OCS of the police station that is closest to the location where they planned to hold their procession.
Therefore, he urged the opposition team to proceed, follow the law, and submit their letter of intent on time to the chief of the local police station, in this case likely the Nairobi Central Police Station OCS, before staging the protests.
According to the law, we follow certain procedures when serving letters authorizing protest or picketing. The officer in charge of a police station is designated very clearly as the regulating officer of the permits to be issued under Section 2 of the Public Order Act. This is a regional command at my level, and we provide services to the police stations,” he said.
Therefore, it must be served at the police station in this case involving the protest issue. We’re not saying we won’t pick, but the law requires that this document be delivered to the officer commanding the police station in the vicinity of the proposed procession.
Bungei rejected Azimio’s request to participate in the Monday demonstrations in a peaceful manner on the grounds that they had not been informed in advance, but the opposition is now attempting to act morally in this situation.
