— On Sat, 5/31/08, George Nyongesa wrote:

Anti riot police are tear gassing and attacking wananchi in the central business district as I write.

The wananchi had gathered, with a police permit, to march together from the Jeevanjee Gardens through town and to the Huruma grounds to voice their frustration over the high food prices and the unchecked oil prices. The wananchi were demonstrating peacefully when they were confronted by the anti riot police. This has forced the large gathering of the hungry and angry to take off for fear of their lives.

I will continue to keep you updated as events unfold…

George Nyongesa
Bunge La Mwananchi
+254 720 451 235

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From: George Nyongesa
Subject: Breaking news – Bunge La Mwananchi – Solidarity march for food – ongoing faceoff with police!!
Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008, 1:37 AM

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All Kenyans must stand up against this fear of the unknown.

It is wrong for the police to disperse a crowd that has legally gathered under their permit. It would have been better to deny such a group a license, than to give then a license and then teargas them.

Time has come for the police to also share in the virtue of peace. You do not create peace by hitting at people without adequate defense, and apparently for no reason.

We must all as Kenyans work for peace, and if it means demonstrating, let us do it peacefully, so that our message is heard. But by tear gassing people expressing their constitutional rights to assembly, the police are courting wrong attention for no reason.

Maybe we have someone in the police force who feels happy when the police are always in the picture for all the wrong reasons.

That sadist should be removed from our police force.

Odhiambo T Oketch
Komarock Nairobi

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Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 05:42:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: odhiambo okecth
Re: Breaking news – Bunge La Mwananchi – Solidarity march for food – ongoing faceoff with police!!