In Summary
The government has threatened to take action against politicians
planning to influence the outcome of census scheduled for the weekend.
Interior
Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i says they received reports that some
politicians have been holding meetings, including one on Wednesday
night, to plan movement of people from Nairobi and other major towns to
be counted in their home counties.
FACE THE LAW
While
briefing the country of the preparations towards the head-count, Dr
Matiang'i on Thursday said the unnamed leaders would face the law.
“There
are parts of the country where we have received reports that
politicians are playing funny games, asking people to move this way or
that way.
“I want to tell you that we
are following up these activities and we are watching you. At an
appropriate time, we shall ensure you meet with the law,” said the tough
talking CS.
He was accompanied by Labour CS Ukur Yattani and their ICT counterpart Joe Mucheru.
Governors
and MPs from various parts of the country have been asking Kenyans to
travel to their rural homes so that they can be counted from there.
Their
aim is to garner numbers that will later their counties get them a good
revenue share, as some MPs fight to save their constituencies.
ORGANISED TRANSPORT
Kakamega
Governor Wycliffe Oparanya is one of those who have openly asked
Kenyans from the region living in other counties to return home and take
part in the exercise.
He urged
western Kenya residents to take the exercise, seriously saying it will
prove the region's numerical strength ahead of 2022 General Election.
“The
coming census is different from the past ones because allocations of
revenue from the National Treasury will be determined by the population
of each region,” he said.
Some
central Kenya MPs also reportedly organised buses to ferry people for
free to their respective constituencies in a bid to meet the 133,000
threshold that gives a constituency sovereignty.
Dr
Matiang'i said such leaders are going against President Uhuru
Kenyatta’s statement that “census is a straight forward exercise and
let’s allow it to be that”.
“This is a
modern country, Kenyans are modern people who want to live according to
the law. So some of these primitive habits that our politicians have
stuck with or moving people around and re-arranging clans must stop.
They are affecting the way our people live,” he said.
The CS said that all security personnel will be on duty for the entire census period.
“None will be on leave until process is complete,” he said.
SOCIAL MEDIA
He
also insisted that all bars and other social places would remain closed
despite pleas by Kenyans on social media to revise the decision.
“No, we will connote revise. We are going to carry out census between 6pm on Saturday 24 and 6am on Sunday morning,” he said.
“The exercise will resume in households that will not have been counted at 6pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday morning.”
He called on the business community and their customers to sacrifice for the sake of their country.
“We
have requested our fellow Kenyans with utmost humility and we are sorry
for the inconvenience caused by our decision to close social places
during the census period, but we have to do this as it's only once in 10
years,” he said.
“Social places like
bars are open between 2pm and 5pm on Saturday. You can go and drink
then. Experienced people tell me that if you’re not satisfied with
alcohol in those hours, then there is a problem with you,” said the CS.
He
asked football enthusiasts to watch the duel between Arsenal and
Liverpool at home and “give your families a rare chance of enjoying a
match with you”.
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