Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga (2-L) holds up a bible as he
"swears-in" himself as the 'people's president' on January 30, 2018 in
Nairobi. AFP PHOTO | PATRICK MEINHARDT
Kenya's interior minister Fred Matiang'i said Wednesday that
opposition leader Raila Odinga's mock
inauguration as "people's president" was an effort to overthrow the government, with media outlets shut down for their complicity in the event.
inauguration as "people's president" was an effort to overthrow the government, with media outlets shut down for their complicity in the event.
Odinga,
73, held a "swearing-in" ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday with the event
attended by thousands of supporters in another challenge to President
Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election last year following two votes that the
opposition claims were rigged.
The lawyer and MP who
swore Odinga in — TJ Kajwang — was arrested on Wednesday afternoon and
was being investigated for his role in the ceremony, according to a
senior police officer speaking on condition of anonymity.
TVs shut
After
initially vowing to block the gathering, police kept their distance,
but a furore broke out after the Communication Authority shut down three
of the country's main private television channels who were covering the
ceremony.
"What was witnessed at Uhuru Park was a
well-choreographed attempt to subvert or overthrow the
legally-constituted government of the Republic of Kenya," Mr Matiangi
said in a statement.
"Some elements in the media fraternity participated in
furtherance of this illegal act," he charged, adding that "their
complicity would have led to thousands of deaths of innocent Kenyans..."
Matiangi
said the authorities had information that "criminal elements operating
under the banner" of the National Super Alliance (Nasa) opposition
coalition had planned to "shed blood" at the event and "blame it on the
police".
That was why police had withdrawn from the venue, he said.
"We
have commenced wide-scale investigations targeting individuals and
organisations who include but not limited to media houses," he said,
indicating that the outlets — among them NTV, Citizen TV and KTN — would
remain shut until the probe was finished.
The shutdown came after media organisations were summoned to State House last week for a meeting.
'Intimidation' of media
During
the meeting, Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and other senior
officials warned editors against live coverage of the ceremony and
threatened to revoke their licenses if they failed to comply, according
to Linus Kaikai, chairman of the Kenya Editors' Guild.
In a statement, Kaikai said he was "gravely alarmed" by Friday's meeting which took place in "an atmosphere of intimidation".
Rights groups on Wednesday criticised the government's move to block live coverage of the inauguration.
"Kenyan
authorities have restricted media coverage at a critical moment, and
violated the public's right to information about important events," said
Otsieno Namwaya, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
HRW
said the shutdown "underlines a trend since 2013, when Kenyatta took
office for the first time" of intimidation, harassment and threats aimed
at the media.
For some, it brought back memories of
years of dictatorship in the 1980s and 1990s when heavy-handed
government censorship was common.
"Kenya is on a very
slippery trajectory in regard to human rights, and president Kenyatta
urgently needs to reverse this trend," Namwaya said.
'Anarchy and mayhem'
Matiangi said Odinga's swearing-in itself was also under investigation and that "appropriate legal action" would be taken.
Authorities had repeatedly warned that such an inauguration would be treasonous and that Odinga could face arrest.
However,
as the wording of the oath was different to that in the constitution,
the consequences of Odinga's act of political theatre remain unclear.
Odinga
has refused to accept Kenyatta's re-election, which came after last
year's deeply-divisive election season in which rights activists say at
least 92 people were killed.
First was an election on
August 8 that was won by Kenyatta then annulled in a historic decision
by the Supreme Court, which ordered a re-run on October 26.
Claiming the poll would not be fair, Odinga boycotted the second vote and Kenyatta won with 98 per cent.
Since
boycotting the re-run poll, citing a lack of reform at the election
commission, Nasa's strategy has been to challenge Kenyatta's legitimacy
by seeking to establish parallel government structures.
'People's assemblies'
Opposition
politicians have convened so-called "people's assemblies" in some
counties and the inauguration of Odinga as "people's president" is seen
as the culmination of this process.
Matiangi on Tuesday
denounced the opposition's National Resistance Movement wing, tasked
with implementing a threatened programme of boycotts and civil
disobedience, as an "organised criminal group".
"It is a group of individuals who are bent on causing anarchy and mayhem," he added on Wednesday.
"We will not accept subversion and criminal acts disguised as political activities. This will not be tolerated."
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