Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga now claims that the killings witnessed in a Nairobi slum on Sunday were planned.
Kenyan opposition leader says killings that claimed four lives in Nairobi slum were well planned
The killings have hiked tensions on the eve of a Supreme Court ruling on the validity of the Oct 26 poll
The National Super Alliance (NASA) party leader has alleged that the murder of four people in Mathare area was a well-executed plan targeting particular people.
“What has happened today is a work of careful planning and is targeting particular people,” claimed Raila.
Mr. Odinga was speaking at Nairobi Hospital after visiting Mathare Member of Parliament Antony Oluoch, who had been shot in confrontations between police and Mathare locals protesting the killings.
The bodies of three men and a woman were found in Mathare, hiking tensions on the eve of a Supreme Court ruling on the validity of last month's divisive repeat election.
The NASA leader also claimed that 15 lives were lost during his return as he blamed the police for orchestrating violence against his supporters.
“There were 15 bodies at the City mortuary and three at Chiromo mortuary when we visited. These people were shot by the gun and cartridges collected,” he alleged while dismissing police spokesman George Kinoti’s account that five lives lost during his chaotic return from the US was from stoning by an angry mob.
A police official told AFP that angry residents believed the murders witnessed in Mathare were ethnically motivated, blaming the violence on the Mungiki, a feared criminal gang known for running protection rackets and violently defending tribal business interests.
But the police chief was quick to rule out any ethnic factors in the Mathare killings.
"It is not about ethnic clashes," Koome said, insisting that it was a criminal matter, but without giving details.
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: news@pulselive.co.ke