By Peter Clottey of VOA – Kenya’s director of information told VOA the government has launched a thorough investigation into Sunday’s explosions at a political rally in Nairobi that killed five people and wounded at least 75.
Ezekiel Mutua called for calm saying the government strongly condemns what he described as an “unfortunate act.”
“We wouldn’t want to speculate because I think from my government perspective investigations have been launched. And, what we hear is that quite a number of ministers have visited the injured at the hospital,” he said.
Information director Mutua said the government is yet to ascertain what caused the twin explosions and what the next line of action should be.
The blasts occurred shortly after a campaign rally ended Sunday at Uhuru Park in the capital. The rally was part of the “No” campaign team which is strongly opposed to Kenya’s new draft constitution.
With support from Kenya’s former President Daniel Arap Moi, members of the “No” campaign team say the newly drafted constitution is not good for Kenyans.
Voters are scheduled to decide on 4 August in a referendum whether to accept or reject the proposed constitution. This pits the “No” supporters against the “Yes” campaign team, which is for the acceptance of the draft document.
A leading member of the “No” campaign team blames the opposition for plotting the twin explosions to undermine their efforts to canvass votes against the draft constitution.
But, supporters of the “Yes” campaign dismissed the accusation saying the “No” supporters just want to attract sympathy in the wake of the explosions.
Information director Mutua urged Kenyans not to jump to conclusions over the explosions.
“Investigations have been launched and the Police Commissioner has promised to issue a statement once we confirm the details of what could have taken place at Uhuru Park,” Mutua said.
Observers called on the government to expedite action by swiftly investigating and punishing the perpetrators in order to prevent a repeat of the 2007 post-election violence in which scores of people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced.
Mutua called on Kenyans not to be ruffled by the explosions.
“We want to appeal for calm. This cannot be attributed to one side of the political divide. I think it would be important for us to wait for the investigations to know what could have caused this … and then, the government will take the necessary action,” Mutua said.