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Protesters destroy railway line
Story by TIM QUERENGESSER and JUMA NAMLOLA
NATION
Publication Date: 1/19/2008
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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