Njeri Maina: Kenyans on their own, govt orchestrating Ol Kalou violence

Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina. [File,Standard]

Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina has accused the government of orchestrating violence during the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election, saying Kenyans have a right to defend themselves when attacked.

Speaking during an interview on KTN on Monday, July 20, Maina claimed some Members of Parliament allied to the government were stationed near the scene of attacks in Ol Kalou.

"There were certain members of Parliament who were placed directly within the precincts of the Ol Kalou attacks," she said.

She accused the Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) of failing to take responsibility for the safety of Kenyans, after he urged aggrieved parties to record statements with police.

"It's unfortunate that people like the Interior CS want to be selfish enough not to be responsible. It is the government that is responsible for ensuring that Kenyans are safe," she claimed.

Maina defended the aggressive scenes witnessed during the by-election, arguing that citizens had been left to fend for themselves.

"The Constitution recognises that every Kenyan citizen has the right to security of self, and that means if they are under attack, then they have a right to defend themselves. I'm not going to watch someone allied to the government send goons in a meeting I'm in when I can also make sure I defend myself," she argued.

She further claimed Members of Parliament could not hold the CS to account since he was a presidential appointee.

"Kenyans are on their own. I don't think Members of Parliament can call to order the CS, who is an appointee of the President, if they are an appendage of the executive," she added.

Maina also accused the government of deploying state resources to bribe voters in favour of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) candidate, and faulted the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for failing to punish electoral malpractice witnessed during the poll.

On the bribery claims, she argued that the right to vote was not equally exercised in practice.

"We presume the right to vote is equal, but if you look at the intersectionality of things, it is certainly not. That's why you find some Kenyans are induced to vote because they were given Sh1,000 or Sh500. We are asking the Kenyan people to adopt the Ol Kalou version, kula fare na ukatae maneno ya serikali (take the money and reject the government's word)," she asserted.