Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Ruto’s handout sparks day-long protests in Embu


Ruto’s handout sparks day-long protests in Embu

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Demonstrators thirsty for handouts yesterday caused tension for hours in Embu town. This followed tour of William Ruto, the presidential candidate of the United Republican Party. Ruto's campaign team is said to have promised more than 300 boda boda riders a token of Sh200 each to join his convoy through the town on Thursday.
Yesterday, after Ruto had left Embu, the boda boda riders staged two demonstrations over the token In the morning, they had turned their fury on Manyatta MP Emilio Kathuri and a CDF official, Jimmy Njogu, who had allegedly been given the funds by Ruto. Trouble started when the operators gathered at the Manyatta CDF office to demand the Sh200, which a handler of Ruto had allegedly given MP Kathuri and .
However the two told the boda boda operators to wait for the funds since there was a slight delay. The impatient operators heckled the MP and then rode around the streets chanting slogans against him. Some even brought out placards with the message, "Emilio must go". For more than an hour they blocked the Embu-Meru highway until the MP got back to them with a positive message. Kathuri apologised for the delay and handed out the money to the demonstrators.
In appreciation, they staged a demonstration again in praise of the MP. The message on the placards were even changed to, "Emilio must win". During the first demonstration the police led by deputy police chief Paul Kuria made futile attempts to control the operators to reduce the heavy traffic jam on the Embu-Meru highway. Ruto had visited Embu on Thursday, where he addressed several rallies in Siakago, Embu Town, Manyatta Town and Runyejes. He left yesterday for Meru after spending the night at the Izaak Walton Inn.

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