Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has questioned the involvement of the Kenya Defence Force (KDF) in the ongoing anti-Finance Bill demonstrations on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Nairobi.
Okiya, said in a statement on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, that the deployment of the KDF in the demos went against the Kenyan constitution.
While quoting part of a 2014 report by Ndung’u Wainaina of the International Centre for Policy and Conflict (ICPC), Okiya insinuated that deploying KDF for internal security matters undermines both the constitutional and military democracy.
“Lessons learnt from other countries around the world is that when the military gets involved in internal security matters, they tend to undermine constitutional democracy and entrench military democracy. Ndung’u Wainaina International Centre for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) July 2014, “Okiya posted.
He also cited Chapter 14 of the Constitution and stressed Section C which stipulates how KDF can be deployed for internal security matters.
Constitution of Kenya article 241. Establishment of Defence Forces and Defence Council 3(c)
“Lessons learnt from other countries around the world is that when the military gets involved in internal security matters, they tend to undermine constitutional democracy and entrench… pic.twitter.com/gRLhmYIgRC
— Okiya Omtatah Okoiti (@OkiyaOmtatah) June 25, 2024
KDF vs anti-Finance Bill demos
On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, the defence forces were deployed in Nairobi to help the police manage the protesters of the ongoing anti-tax demos that had infiltrated the Parliament.
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