A Ugandan-bound truck was set on fire by protesters in Kenya. The incident occurred during demonstrations against the detention of a Kenyan opposition politician.
The truck, which was carrying goods worth millions of shillings, was completely burnt down.
An angry mob on the Southern bypass near Kibra halted the truck and set it on fire after they were unable to break into the lorry’s container.
Later, police dispersed them, but without a fire truck, the blaze could not be extinguished.
Mr. Jibril Abduba, the truck’s driver, claimed that he had been transporting electricity wires from Mombasa’s port city to Kampala when he was stopped at around 11.50 a.m.
“When I arrived at this intersection, the youth began accosting us, throwing stones and projectiles at us, forcing the police officers who were engaging them to retreat before they attacked me as I was attempting to turn my vehicle,” he told journalists shortly after police had dispersed the rioters.
According to the motorist, the incident swiftly turned violent after police gave him clearance to drive through the crossroads. He claimed, “The police told us it was okay to drive through, but when we got here they backed off and left us alone.”
Youth blocked highways in numerous slum areas, and an arsonist set fire to a passenger bus on a major thoroughfare in Nairobi. However, life in the majority of Nairobi’s neighborhoods was quiet.
Protesters in Kisumu, a city in western Kenya on a lake, blocked highways with rocks and burned tires.
On Sunday, Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei revealed that Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja alliance had been denied permission to stage the demonstrations, citing the violent nature which marred the previous protests in March.
But the coalition insisted the action would go ahead. “Police cannot decide in advance that there shall be violence and then proceed to ban political activities that are protected by the constitution. That is the making of dictatorship,” it said in a statement earlier yesterday.