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Arrest violence inciters, say
MPs
(Ed. Note: Mwangi Kiunjuri first should explain the violence and
intimidations in his constituency even prior to the election and
also explain the delay of the ballots from Laikipia East)
Published on March 12, 2008
EA STANDARD
By Joseph Murimi
Eleven PNU MPs have threatened to call mass action if the
Government does not arrest suspected perpetrators of post-election
violence.
The MPs from Central Rift Valley, who met at Parliament Buildings
on Tuesday, also warned that they would mobilise colleagues to
shoot down Government Bills until the land problem in the province
was resolved.
In a statement read by Laikipia East MP, Mr Mwangi Kiunjuri, the
legislators questioned why the police were quick to summon
Naivasha MP, Mr John Mututho, and Nyahururu Mayor, Mr Murutu
Karumba, yet no leader from regions where the violence started had
been arrested.
They criticised the police for what they called selective
application of justice.
Mututho denied involvement in the skirmishes, saying he had helped
separate warring communities in Naivasha.
He accused the Commissioner of Police, Maj-Gen Hussein Ali, of
incompetence, and called for his resignation.
The MP said instead of arresting the sponsors of violence, police
were harassing the "small fish".
Kiunjuri said people were still being killed and houses burnt, yet
police appeared helpless. He said leaders who funded the violence
were now lining up for Cabinet positions.
The MPs claimed that they had names of people behind the clashes,
which they said they would release when they call mass action.
Early in the week, Mututho appeared at the Nairobi Chief
Magistrate’s Court, but was not charged because his file was not
ready.
The MPs said more than 1.4 million Central Rift residents were
ready to sacrifice whatever they had for the sake of peace.
"We should not be treated as foreigners in Rift Valley. We are
putting the Government on notice to address the land question,’’
said Kiunjuri.
They said land, not politics, was to blame for recurrent chaos in
Rift Valley. Kiunjuri wondered whether President Kibaki and ODM
leader, Mr Raila Odinga, knew the plight of displaced people, who
were yet to return to their homes even after the signing of the
power deal.
He told the leaders that shaking hands and sharing a cup of tea
had not brought peace overnight.
Kiunjuri said the MPs would gang against the Government to push
for a solution to the land problem.
"We shall support the Bill on the prime minister, but no other
amendments will pass until the land question is addressed," he
said.
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