PRESS BRIEFING STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR ALFRED MUTUA
PLANNED CORD PRAYERS IN MACHAKOS SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A GUISE TO BRING VIOLENCE TO OUR PEACEFUL REGION
We welcome all organizations including the CORD leadership to visit Machakos for their planned prayers this weekend. Freedom of speech and association need to be respected and protected.
However, we wish to state that:
1. We will not entertain any violence in our peaceful Machakos. We are peacemakers and ask the organizers of the prayers and their followers to come in peace and not destruction and mayhem.
2. We warn them that we have over 500 functioning CCTV cameras in Machakos County and a Rapid Response Unit to protect the property and lives of our people. We will not allow hooliganism to hurt even one hair of a Machakos girl.
3. We ask Machakos residents and Ukambani region residents to pray for those coming for the CORD prayers so that they will desist from spewing hate speech and engaging in violence.
4. There will be road blocks by our County Inspectorate with the assistance of the Police to ensure that visitors that may be ferried to Machakos are not ferrying stones and other crude weapons for the prayer meetings. Because of our effective garbage collection and beautification program in our clean Machakos, it is difficult to find stones and twigs lying around on the ground, so the only way to have stones for violent acts is by ferrying them to Machakos.
5. We request that the courts be given respect and not ultimatums. Giving our court system ultimatums whereas those arrested are from various political persuasions, is improper, undemocratic and an attempt to threaten the judicial system. This is improper.
6. Finally, I request all Kenyans to embrace peace and non-violence. There is nothing that cannot be solved by talking to each other. Inflaming tensions, destruction of property and killing of people either by police or demonstrators is wrong and should be condemned. Kenyans are generally peaceful people and we are only incited by blood thirsty politicians. This should not be entertained.
God bless you and God bless our Great and peace-loving country Kenya.
Dr. Alfred N. Mutua, EBS
GOVERNOR.
June 17, 2016
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