Public outcry, hiked fares as suspected thugs take over Mlolongo protests

Tension heightened in Mlolongo town and its environs on Tuesday as suspected goons took over the streets in the ongoing anti-government demonstrations.

The demonstrators in their hundreds took over the town in Machakos County in mid-day Tuesday.

They thronged the usually busy Nairobi - Mombasa Highway and completely paralysed transport with motorists avoiding the road.

The demonstrators engaged police officers in running battles between the Gateway Mall in Syokimau and Signature Mall in the Sabaki area for the better part of the day.

They blocked several sections of the highway using stones and lit live fires using tyres.

Several motorists who were caught up in the melee reported harassment with some claiming they were robbed of their mobile phones and money alongside other valuables.

"What's going on in Mlolongo isn't demonstrations, but thuggery and robbery with violence," a motorist told the Star.

The demonstrators at some point attempted to vandalise the Expressway but were repulsed by a contingent of police officers. The town, however, turned into a battlefield between demonstrators and police officers.

Traders within the town were never spared as well as some businesses were invaded, looted and destroyed.

The victims included those operating shops with refrigerators in front of their shops which were broken into and bottles of soda carted away by the protesters.

Several buildings also had their glass windows broken after they were hit with stones.

Residents said the demonstrators causing terror in the area were not known to them claiming they might have been ferried to cause havoc in the area as well as other parts of Machakos county.

Police used rubber bullets and teargas canisters to disperse the demonstrators who kept regrouping and returning to the highway.

Some of the demonstrators also got into some of the estates in Mlolongo and along Mombasa Road.

They passed through Mlolongo's Beijing Road, Kasina, Upper part of Kathangaita all through to the Signature Mall area.

Police repulsed the rioters from getting into the mall which has several businesses including a supermarket and hotels.

Some of those who had gone to work along Mombasa Road either closed themselves inside their workplaces or returned home with difficulties.

"I used a bodaboda to get to my house in Syokimau from the General Motors area where I work. I was charged Sh3,000 for the service, a distance I pay Sh50 for in normal days," a woman told the Star.

Boda boda operators, pedestrians and motorists within the Mlolongo area were forced to carry twigs as they passed through the demonstrators as a way of showing solidarity with them. Those who had no twigs in their motor vehicles were harassed.

There were similar demonstrations in Machakos and Kitengela towns.

In Machakos, several roads were blocked by the demonstrators and fire was lit on them hence paralysing transport.

In Kitengela, rowdy youths blocked the Nairobi - Namanga Road at Savanna Cement Company using stones and sat on them.

The demonstrations were still on by press time with high police presence in the affected areas trying to restore the situation.