Police ban Mudavadi-Wetangula meeting ahead of BBI forum in Kakamega

Police have cancelled permits for two meetings that were scheduled to be held in Kakamega County concurrently with the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) consultative forum on Saturday, January 18.

One of the cancelled meetings was to be led by ANC Party leader Musalia Mudavadi and his Ford-Kenya counterpart Moses Wetangula at Nabongo Sports Ground in Mumias while the other had been organised by local farmers at the Mumias Sports Complex.

Mumias OCPD Peter Kattam said the two meetings were banned due to security concerns.

‘This is to notify you that this office has cancelled your permit to carry out the above exercise [a public consultative forum] purportedly scheduled to take place on 18/01/2020 at Nabongo Sports Ground due to security reasons,” police said in a notice.

“You are advised to inform your participants of the changes and comply accordingly… Any person contravening this directive will be held criminally responsible.”

According to the OCPD, security personnel in the area will be deployed to the BBI consultative forum at the Bukhungu  Stadium where President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are expected to be present.

Organisers of the two cancelled meetings have been asked to seek another date.

The BBI meeting in Kakamega is being coordinated by Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli.

Last week, Mudavadi and Wetangula claimed they had not been officially invited to the Bukhungu BBI meeting. Speaking at a funeral in Vihiga, Mudavadi alleged that instead of a formal invitation, they were invited to the forum through social media.