Community elders, inter-religious leaders, elected leaders, and security officials drawn from Garissa and Tana River counties have urged the public to remain calm in a bid to de-escalate tensions following the killing of Aden Mohamed, a 24-year-old taxi driver, early last week.
Last week, a section of local leaders and youth held a series of demonstrations for speedy investigations and arrest for a DCI officer who allegedly shot dead a taxi driver at a police roadblock in Modika.
However, the demonstrations turned chaotic and violent after goons and criminals infiltrated the demos, causing injuries to the members of the public and destruction of property.
The violent demonstrations then turned into a conflict between communities, forcing the elders and religious leaders to intervene and calm the masses.
So high was the tension that angry youth started hurling stones at motorists and public service vehicles along the Garissa – Nairobi highway as they protested utterances by a section of political leaders linking the incident to tribes and religion.
Speaking after a meeting at the Garissa county commissioner’s compound, the elders urged the members of the public in Garissa to treat criminals as criminals and not as the tribes or religions, they come from.
The leaders now want the public to be calm and patient as they wait for the government to finish investigations and bring the suspect, who is still at large, to justice.
“The issue of killings and violence has been happening in the past due to insecurity and the use of drugs. The only way now to get a solution is to bring all the stakeholders together so that we come up with a conflict management structure to prevent violence,” said Mohamed Ibrahim, the Executive Director for the Garissa Mediation Council.
Madogo MCA Juma Ali called on all communities living in Tana River and Garissa to live together harmoniously, noting that people need each other for everyday needs and services.
“We are neighbours. Garissa and Madogo are just separated by water in the River Tana, so when something like this happens, we must work together from all sides,” Juma said.
“I urge my fellow politicians in Garissa, do not turn to the politics of tribes or religion. It is very unfortunate because we are all Kenyans and brothers. If it is one person who has committed an offence, let the government deal with them,” he added.
While assuring the members of the public that the suspect who shot the taxi driver dead would be arrested and charged, Garissa county police Commander Samson Chelugo called for calm and peace, noting that the incident was isolated.
At the same time, Chelugo warned local politicians against inciting the public to hate and violence, revealing that the police would not hesitate to arrest and charge them to maintain law and order.
Chelugo said that there were enough police officers to deal with all emerging threats and maintain peace, and urged the residents to report any cases of hate speech or incitement to police for swift action.
“I want to appeal to the community and members of the public in Garissa, that we maintain peace. What happened was an isolated incident, and the suspect is known. The police have the capacity to arrest that officer, and we are going for him,” Chelugo said.
“I want to also tell the political class, those who have tried to incite violence against communities living here in Garissa, that we are going to take very stern action against them. Any other person who will be found to incite people, irrespective of their status in the society, we will arrest them and the law will take its course,” he added.
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