Machakos Gubernatorial candidate Wavinya Ndeti has come out to condemn the violence that was witnessed during a prayer meeting at Machakos Sports Club on Friday, July 29, 2022.
The former Transport Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) has accused her Chama Cha Uzalendo rival Nzioka Waita of hiring goons to disrupt the session.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the violent disruption of our prayer event by our competitor Nzioka Waita and his hired goons. To the Clergy, Leaders present, and Members of the public, we apologize for the regrettable, extremely unfortunate & barbaric aggression meted out on you,” Ndeti stated.
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Wavinya Ndeti- Nzioka Waita supporters clash
Chaos erupted at the prayer meeting after supporters of the two candidates clashed shortly after Nzioka arrived at the meeting on Friday morning.
The meeting was brought to a standstill for close to ten minutes as a section of youths attempted to forcefully eject Waita from the podium.
The former State House Chief of Staff was whisked by the police to the car before joining the clergy and leaders after calm was restored.
On his part, Waita has accused Ndeti and her Wiper allies of turning the prayers into a Wiper event, insisting he had received a formal invitation to the meeting.
"They sponsored the violence, they tried to turn an Azimio function which we were formally invited to into a wiper event and goons hired by Wiper and Wavinya prevented me from sitting on the dais," Waita started.
He thanked Azimio One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga for intervening and ensuring order was restored at the meeting.
Police across the country have been receiving training on safety measures of how to handle citizens during campaign riots as we head to the general elections.
The training is set to help the police manage the crowds and mitigate breaches that may arise at the political events.
