Why Boniface Mwangi splashed ‘fake blood’ on police spokesman
Activist Boniface Mwangi has defended his move to douse police spokesman Charles Owino with ‘fake blood’ during Monday’s protests against extra judicial killings.
Mr Mwangi explained that every protester was splashed with the solution of red food colour, and since Mr Owino had voluntarily joined the protests, he was no exception.
The red colour symbolised the blood shed by victims of extra-judicial killings.
“You don’t come out to the rain and expect not to be rained on. Everyone who was in the protests had blood marks and when he joined us he too had to look the part. That uniform he had on, is bought by taxpayers’ money,” Mr Mwangi told Nairobi News.
Asked if the spokesman’s decision to join in was pre-arranged, the activist said Mr Owino was there to show how accessible he was.
PLAYING PR
“He was playing PR and so when he came to show us how accessible he was, we asked him to join in which he did, giving us good PR. The fact that he came, matched and went unhurt shows our protests were peaceful,” he added.
Mr Mwangi was one of the organisers of Monday’s demonstrations in the city centre to protest the killing of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri.
“Our message was clear, that we need a disbandment of police hit squads and we sent Mr Owino to deliver our letter to his boss IG Boinnet. We even refused that Mr Owino addresses us because he is a junior officer and it is his bosses who can take action,” said the activist.
During Monday’s demonstrations, former presidential candidate Martha Karua joined the protesters in calling for an end to extra judicial killings.
Activist Mwangi did not however splash the Narc Kenya leader with the red solution the way he did with the police spokesman.
“Martha Karua was not at the front line where Mr Owino was. Everyone who was in the front line of the protests had blood marks, but those at the back, where the politician and other lawyers were, did not have the marks though they were part of the protests,” he said.
The activists are yet to receive any communication from the office of the Inspector general with regards to the points of actions contained in their letter.
