Narok town was Thursday paralysed as protests against the arrest of the county Senator and four members of the National Assembly turned violent.

The protests continued late into the afternoon even after the leaders who were arrested the previous day were freed on bond by a Nairobi court.

It was the second successive day of protests against Governor Samuel Tunai.

By evening, the Narok air was acrid with the sting of police tear gas and smoke from burning tyres used by the protesters to block the streets and a major road that connects Nairobi and parts of Nyanza.

The legislators, Senator Stephen ole Ntutu, his brother Patrick ole Ntutu, the MP for Narok West, and fellow MPs Moitalel ole Kenta (Narok North), Korei Lemein (Narok South) and Johanna Ngeno (Emmurua Dikkirr) were arrested on Wednesday at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation headquarters in Nairobi, where they had been summoned to record statements over violent protests the previous day during which two people were shot dead by police while several others were injured.

The leaders were locked in police cells overnight and taken to court yesterday to be charged with incitement to violence.

By 8am, even before the court appearance, crowds in Narok Town had already become restive.

Bonfires on major roads blocked traffic into and out of the town. Roads affected included the Narok-Maai Mahiu Road that brings in traffic from Nairobi, and onwards to western Kenya.

Also blocked was the route to the world-famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Tourists vans heading to the park were turned away.

By midday, the situation had turned violent, making for chaotic scenes as rioters confronted the police who responded with tear gas, truncheons, rubber bullets and live ammunition. By 2pm, four people had been seriously injured as police battled to disperse rioting mobs.

STAY IN CUSTODY

The five MPs were released under a bond of Sh500,000 each after the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko, walked into court and abandoned an application to have them stay in custody for seven days. He cited the violence in Narok for the change of heart.

The release of the five did not, however, immediately calm the angry mobs. A woman injured in the chaos was taken to the Narok County Referral Hospital where she is recovering.
A Maasai Mara University student, Mr Samson Kodonyo, was shot and taken to the Narok Cottage Hospital, where doctors said they would remove the bullets. The student claimed he was not part of the protests but was walking back to campus after taking lunch at a local restaurant when he was hit.

Protesters, clad in red shuka, vowed to stop all business in the town. They accused Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery of taking sides in the dispute between Senator Ntutu and Governor Samuel Tunai and having a hand in the arrest of their leaders.

“We will not relent until our leaders are released. This is intimidation by the government and we will make sure impunity and corruption must come to an end,” said Mr Johnstone Letoluo, a local preacher.

Businesses at trading centres on the Narok-Maai Mahiu road were paralysed because the road was blocked at Ntulele and Suswa trading centres, where cars and buses headed for western Kenya, Kisii, South Nyanza, Bomet and adjacent areas were forced to cut their journeys short.

The road was also blocked at Rotian, Enengetia and Tipis centres, while the road to Maasai Mara was barricaded at Ewuaso Ng’iro.

On Wednesday night, several vehicles were pelted with stones in Ololulunga and Katakala area on the Narok-Bomet road, paralysing night transport on the route.

On Monday, two people were shot dead and eight others, including two police officers, seriously injured when hundreds of Narok residents defied Mr Nkaissery’s ban on the anti-Tunai demonstrations.

Cord leaders Thursday led by Mr Raila Odinga said Mr Nkaissery should be held responsible for the chaos, saying he was wrong to ban the planned demonstrations.

The leaders spoke outside the Milimani Law Courts where hundreds of Narok residents had been camping, waiting for the outcome of the case against the five legislators.

DEFECTING CORD

And later in the evening, some Members of the Narok County Assembly declared that they were defecting to Cord. The MCAs gathered supporters on the main highway and announced that they were “disappointed” with the Jubilee Coalition. They said they had commenced talks with the legislators for them to resign their seats and seek re-election on ODM tickets.

The control of billions of shillings collected annually from the world-famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve is at the heart of the intense political rivalry, with the Ntutu-led team demanding the removal of Governor Tunai.

Also coming into play are traditional clan rivalries, which have led the major groupings to gang up against the governor, who hails from a smaller clan.

From last year, the leaders have been demanding that the Kenya Airport Parking Service (Kaps), which was contracted to manage the e-ticketing system for the Maasai Mara gate collections, be kicked out. The Mara generates revenue of up to Sh2 billion annually.

The leaders further accused Mr Tunai of mismanaging county resources, claiming some Sh16 billion from the national government and local revenue had not been accounted for. They also accused him of skewed employment practices that discriminate against locals.

Calls to Mr Tunai yesterday went unanswered, but on Monday he had given a detailed response to the allegations. He described the Narok wrangles as “a contest of greed and clanism against transparency and a new leadership order”.

He condemned the MPs he accused of inciting people to attack police officers, tracing the problems to a battle for control of the Mara revenue.

The demonstrations are the culmination of a three-month tussle between the governor and the MPs who want to kick him out of office before the expiry of his five-year term.

Additional reporting by Aggrey Mutambo