Anti-IEBC demos in Meru thwarted by police, residents

The anti-IEBC protests in Meru were halted by police and residents who said the march was a way of sabotaging the work of the Jubilee administration.

The protestors, who chanted anti-IEBC slogans, said they will continue with the demonstration until the commission is disbanded despite their efforts to reach the commission’s office being thwarted pre-maturely.

Police officers, who had been deployed across Meru Town, disrupted the protests even before the demonstrators could get near the IEBC offices.

Speaking at a Meru hotel after the march, Mt Kenya East Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Chairman Robert Kathata said they will stage the demonstrations every Monday until the commission is disbanded.

He asked the President and his deputy to facilitate dialogue with the opposition to avoid plunging the country into chaos before or after the next year’s elections.

Mt Kenya East CORD patron Mike Makarena said they will continue with the demonstrations every Monday.

He accused Jubilee leaders from Meru County for allegedly sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations.

Ibrahim Yusuf, the Chairman of Meru Muslims, challenged the IEBC Chair Ahmed Issack Hassan to swear by the Quran that President Uhuru Kenyatta won the 2013 General Elections.

Report by Josiah Mugo