Kenya bans opposition rallies
2005-11-28 09:39
Nairobi - The Kenyan government late on Sunday banned opposition rallies and rejected calls for new elections as President Mwai Kibaki toughened his response to the embarrassing rejection of a new constitution he backed.
Vice-president Moody Awori said any public demonstration in support of snap polls would be seen as a "threat to national security" and warned Kenyans not to attend them amid a nationwide debate over last week's defeat of the charter.
In a statement released by Kibaki's office, Awori said opposition calls for nationwide protests were "inappropriate" and maintained that the results of Monday's referendum were not grounds for a radical overhaul of parliament.
"The government considers these calls for nationwide rallies inappropriate and a threat to national security," he said.
Angry demonstrations
"Accordingly, the government will not allow the planned rallies and wananchi (citizens) are cautioned not to attend the meetings," Awori said.
The statement was released a day after opposition groups renewed demands for new elections at a mass rally in Nairobi attended by about 10 000 angry demonstrators.
They say the rejection of the draft charter was a no confidence vote in Kibaki and his government which has been widely criticized for not following through on reform promises they made when elected in 2002.
Analysts have said the nearly 60% "no" vote was an expression of disapproval with the lacklustre performance Kibaki's administration.
In response to the loss, the president has fired his entire cabinet and postponed this week's scheduled re-opening of parliament in a bid to re-assert his political authority.
But he has refused to dissolve the legislature and call new elections that could lead to his ouster, something the thousands of opposition supporters called for at the Nairobi rally.
In the statement, Awori took issue with the demonstrators' calls, denied the referendum was anything other than a vote against the draft constitution and said there was no reason to hold fresh elections.
"The referendum was on a specific issue of whether to accept or reject the new constitution," he said. "That was all.
"The referendum was not a test on the performance of the government," Awori said, noting that the public would be able to give its assessment of Kibaki's administration when the next elections, set for 2007, are held.
"The government, therefore, wants to make it clear that its top priority is the implementation of the development agenda and that there is no intention whatsoever to call early elections," Awori said.