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Trouble As Peace Meeting Fails

The Nation (Nairobi)
NEWS
June 3, 2004
Posted to the web June 3, 2004

By Allan Odhiambo
Nairobi
There was chaos at the Kisumu Town Hall yesterday afternoon after a
reconciliation meeting ended in disarray.
The crisis meeting was called to reconcile town's mayor Shakeel Ahmed Shabbir
and a group of councillors.
The meeting came just a day after mayor Shabbir was involved in two separate
fights with the town Clerk Aduma Owuor and councillor Omondi Kokore as the
battle for supremacy came to the fore at the local authority.
In the first incident on Tuesday morning, Mr Shabbir and Mr Owuor were involved
in a serious brawl at the hall moments before leaving for the Madaraka Day
celebrations at the town's Moi Stadium.
The fight followed a protracted exchange of words, that later degenerated into
a fight, over claims that the Clerk was politically undermining the mayor. A
team of councillors present at the council offices watched in disbelief as the
two wrestled before their security guards moved in to separate them.
Later, the same day, Mr Shabbir was caught in yet another fight, but this time
with councillor Kokore alias Saddam, whom the mayor claimed was being used as
stooge by Mr Owuor to frustrate the former's efforts at the council.
The incident happened when Mr Kokore had just dropped his colleague, Mr Simba
Opepo, at his home at Kajulu in the outskirts of the town at 6:30pm. But as he
was preparing to leave, Mr Shabbir was driven into the compound in his official
car and beckoned him to stop so that they could talk.
Sources at councillor Opepo's home said a quarrel suddenly broke out between
the two after Mr Shabbir asked Mr Kokore why he was being used to fight him
politically.
But yesterday, the animosity between Mr Shabbir and Mr Kokore resurfaced at the
meeting when the latter confronted the mayor to expound on the accusations he
had levelled against him.
Shouting at the top of his voice, the councillor demanded to know why Mr
Shabbir had accused him of dishing money to his fellow civic leaders to gang up
against him.
Said he as he banged a table: "I want to know why you have to tarnish my name
by claiming I was dishing out money to frustrate you".
Councillors present at the meeting then joined in the altercation as Mr
Shabbir's guards moved in to restrain Mr Kokore from inching closer to the
Mayor. The civic leader was overpowered and dragged to an inner room as the
shocked mayor stayed glued on his seat.
Plain clothes police officers went to the hall moments later to guard against
further chaos as Mr Shabbir's assistant, Ms Prisca Auma and councillor Isiah
Onyango and colleagues begged for calm.
The Clerk related the brawl between him and the mayor to an alleged transfer of
a council tractor a businessman.

   

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