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The government yesterday sealed off all entry points into the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) and deployed hundreds of officers to control city streets and the Central Park to thwart the much-touted Azimio la Umoja demonstrations called by former premier Raila Odinga.

A heavy deployment of police officers was evident from as early as 5am. They were stationed in Nairobi’s main entry and exit points, including Ngara, Nyayo House roundabout, Uhuru Highway-Haile Selassie Avenue roundabout, and at the Prestige and Junction Malls areas on Ngong Road.

Their presence made it practically impossible for Raila, his allies and supporters to make their way into the centre of the capital, where they had planned to present petitions to the electoral commission and Office of the President among other institutions.

President William Ruto had on Monday vowed to use all powers at his disposal to ensure the planned protests do not deteriorate into chaos and violence. Although there were sporadic incidents of violence and looting, the protests were largely contained, prompting Raila and other top leaders of Azimio to retreat and regroup before making another attempt tomorrow.

By evening, Raila, his former running mates Martha Karua and Kalonzo Musyoka and other Azimio leaders called a press conference to acknowledge that they had been unable to make good their threat and declare they would be back tomorrow. They also protested at the withdrawal of their bodyguards on Monday night.

Addressing the press after failing to hold their protests, Azimio leaders blamed police and goons alleged to have been hired by politicians from Central Kenya for the aborted rallies.

“Despite the developments of today (Tuesday), we are energised that Kenyans are determined to reclaim their country. We are marching on. Tomorrow (Wednesday), we take a break to strategise and recharge. Our protests will resume on Thursday, May 4. Same meeting point. Same offices. Same petitions. Same people,” Azimio said in a statement read by Karua, the Narc Kenya leader.

Security withdrawn

They accused the government of withdrawing the security attached to Raila, Kalonzo and a host of Azimio leaders who have publicly been participating in the demonstrations.

“Last night (Monday), all Azimio leaders, including former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and former Vice-President Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka had their security withdrawn.  All Members of Parliament who actively support this cause have also had their security withdrawn.They are suspending the Constitution illegally and engaging in intimidation and blackmail. They are setting the stage for assassinations,” Karua said, alleging there had been a meeting held in Thika that had planned the alleged assassination under the leadership two top leaders in the Kenya Kwanza administration.

They implicated five political leaders allied to the ruling alliance and a Cabinet Secretary in the hiring of goons with the intention of causing mayhem during the protests then blame it on the Opposition.

“We have taken note of a very unfortunate trend in the use of hired goons against Azimio rallies. It is the youth from Central Kenya who are being used to fight other Kenyan communities. They were used to invade Northlands farm and East Africa Spectre industrial complex at the beginning of these protests, and recently they were used to invade Jubilee headquarters,” Karua alleged without giving evidence.

Several attempts by the Azimio politicians to access four major government offices were thwarted by police stationed at key entry points to the CBD.

Earlier, police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse a group of legislators allied to Azimio as they made their way towards the Office of the President at Harambee House. The Opposition legislators had planned to hand in a petition on the cost of living but were dispersed by police.

The lawmakers who included Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, his Kitui counterpart Enock Wambua, MPs Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Mishi Mboko (Likoni) and T.J Kajwang (Ruaraka) had walked from Parliament Buildings and were trying gain access to President William Ruto’s office when they were dispersed.  Their private security detail swiftly whisked them to safety.

At Anniversary Towers, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) headquarters, a contingent of police officers in riot gear manned the gate most of the day.

Boda boda riders perched on their motorcycles with their business having taken a hit from the low number of people seeking to be ferried.

“There are no customers today. I have only ferried one passenger since morning. People feared that the situation might turn ugly,” a rider told People Daily.

However, many businesses in the area, and other parts of the city centre, remained open but business remained low for the better part of the day.

The entire city was dotted with heavy police deployment on all major streets. Police trucks were strategically parked near roundabouts within CBD, including at Khoja and Globe Cinema

Forensic audit

Azimio leaders will tomorrow again try to make it into the city centre to present their petitions.

They have maintained that a forensic audit must be conducted on election servers so that the public can be informed on what transpired during the August presidential election.

“We intended to present a petition to the IEBC showing that the results it announced last August were doctored and demand an audit of the servers,” the leaders said.

They said that they also wanted to petition the electoral body to reinstate four commissioners who resigned to avoid facing a tribunal to investigate their conduct. The said the exit of the four sets a dangerous precedent in which in all future elections, commissioners will be expected to agree with their chairperson, effectively making elections a one-person show.