NAIROBI | KENYA
Emurrua Dikirr MP Johana Ngeno was on Monday evening arrested at Kimogor trading center in Narok South for holding an illegal meeting on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
The lawmaker was accosted by a team of police officers and ushered into a waiting police Land Cruiser.
The officers were forced to shoot in the air to disperse a charging crowd that attempted to block them from arresting the MP.
The dramatic arrest was characterised by screams from residents and supporters of the MP.
DEFIANCE
Narok South Sub-county Deputy Commissioner Felix Kisalu said Mr Ngeno defied police orders against holding the gathering aimed at informing residents about the BBI report.
When contacted Mr Kisalu on phone, he said, “The team on the ground is on the way with the MP. I am yet to meet them. When they arrive I will be briefed on what transpired.”
He said, however, that preliminary reports indicated the MP refused to wait three days, as required, for a permit to hold a gathering.
Mr Ngeno did not answer phone calls for comment on the matter.
The commissioner noted that the area where the MP was arrested is volatile as it was the epicentre of fighting between the Kipsigis and Maasai in 2019.
The dispute concerned theft of cattle and evictions from the Maasai Mau Forest.
NAROK WALKOUT
Last Friday, Mr Ngeno was in a group of Kipsigis leaders who walked out of a BBI consultative meeting in Narok County.
The MP, Narok Deputy Governor Evalyn Aruasa, and several MCAs stormed out of a meeting of more than 1,000 delegates at Maasai Mara University.
They alleged tribal profiling and hate speech by some speakers.
Mr Ngeno layer vowed to hold rallies at the Kipsigis regions in Narok South, Narok West and Emurrua Dikirr to discuss the BBI report with his community.
PAST ARREST
MP Ngeno is not new to arrests.
In September last year, he was apprehended on his to the forest to lead protests against the second phase of evictions.
Mr Ngeno was stopped at a road block at Olmekenyu in Narok South and told to go back.
He declined and was consequently arrested and detained alongside Ololulunga Ward Representative Jefferson Langat, who was the host of today’s meeting.
NMG
