Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa has called for peace and calm in the country. Addressing the press in Nairobi, CS Wamalwa, who was accompanied by a delegation from the Luhya community, noted that events that happened in Bungoma and Kawangware on Friday, where the youth engaged police in running battles, highlight a worrying trend, “We are witnessing a worrying trend of post-election violence and we don’t want a repeat of the 2007/2008 skirmishes,” he said.
He said leaders had a meeting with religious and community leaders especially from Kawangware where there were confrontations between rival youth groups based on tribal affilaitios, saying they’ll work with the religious leaders to ensure that the affected communities are calmed down. He said that the situation should be under control so that other areas aren’t affected, “Both political and religious leaders have appealed for peace an calm and we’ve reached out to other leaders from other communities to ensure there are no retaliatory attacks which will heighten the tension. We are looking at a situation where we want to calm the situation so that it doesn’t spread to other densely populated areas like Kibra, Mathare, Kangemi among others,” he said.
He further urged politicians to desist from inciting the youths, “We want to appeal to political leaders to stop inciting youths, particularly along tribal lines, it’s a dangerous path to take,” he said, adding that in previous clashes throughout history, there has been a loss of lives and property, “Nairobi, particularly, is a cosmopolitan place, and we wouldn’t want that situation to happen.”