Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Timi Frank, has strongly condemned the killing of unarmed protesters in Kenya by security forces.
Frank made this appeal in a statement on Tuesday.
This comes as CNN reports that over 11 people have been killed as anti-government protests hit Kenya.
The demonstrations mark the 35th anniversary of the historic Saba Saba, meaning “seven-“seven”, protests of 7 July 1990, which launched Kenya’s push for multi-party democracy.
Reacting, Frank described the killings as barbaric and unacceptable in a democracy and pleaded passionately with President William Ruto of Kenya to urgently halt the killings by calling the security agencies to order.
“It is time to stop these avoidable murders,” Frank said, while urging the Kenyan government to follow the rule of law in bringing the protests to an end.
He called for the immediate release of all detained protesters by the Kenyan police and commiserated with families who have lost loved ones to the protest.
“They would be remembered as those who died fighting for a better future for their country,” he said.
Frank also called on the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, and the United Nations to intervene and call Ruto to order over his dictatorial actions.
“It is wrong to kill protesters. Instead of killing them, it is the duty of government to protect them,” he said. “We saw recently when there was protest against Trump. They did not deploy the National Guard to kill the protesters but rather to protect them, and that is what democracy is all about.”
