A group of disgruntled youth has come out to demand for payment after claiming to have been hired by politicians to participate in the recent #OccupyEverywhere protests on Tuesday.
In an undated video, the men, who appear to have decided to air out their grievances deep in the night, are seen expressly calling out leaders who they claim had turned their backs on them – even after offering their ‘services’ during the demonstrations.
The alleged goons can be seen addressing politicians who they don’t name, saying that they were woken up early morning and given instructions to go to City Hall before being deployed across the city to infiltrate the demonstrations and cause mayhem.
Armed with a ‘rungu’, one of the men makes his dissatisfaction clear, directly addressing his masters and demanding for pay.
“Nilipigiwa simu asubui, twende hapo City Hall. Tulikuwa watu 50, na mavijana wenzangu. Wakatupatia hizi rungu. Mnatupatia kazi mpaka wengine wanapigwa tear gas…” he says, brandishing his ‘rungu’.
“Saa hii tunapiga na hizo simu zenyu hazishikwi. Na tushaaokolea jo. Tumeshaawalindia mali zao. Tunaenda mpaka huko Riverside. Mlipiga simu twende City Hall? Pesa yetu mtatupatia!”
The men go on with their lamentations, claiming that they had only been paid a fraction of the entire sum – a downpayment – and were now asking for the entire payment to be settled, or else.
“Yenye mlitupatia asubui ni downpayment. Hio ingine tunataka. Lazima mtatumalizia. Hatutaki hio ujinga!” they say.
Tuesday’s protests were characterised by wanton looting, vandalism, hooliganism and thievery forcing many leaders and protesters to abandon the demonstrations altogether as they were now infiltrated by lawless characters.
Unlike in the last two weeks, where the protests have been largely peaceful and organised, recent protests have seen shadowy figures emerge to serve the purposes of their masters – throwing stones, setting buildings on fire, clobbering the police, robbing passers-by and generally wreaking havoc in their jurisdictions.
Reacting to the mayhem, the DCI said, “Security forces across the country singled out suspects found engaging in criminal activities in the guise of protesting, and took them to custody.”
“The DCI has further deployed scrupulous investigators across the affected regions to pursue suspects captured on CCTV cameras and mobile phone recordings violently robbing, stealing and destroying properties and businesses of innocent citizens,” the statement added.
According to the Daily Nation, six politicians, a businessman and two NGOs are on the radar of State intelligence and security agencies following suspicion of their involvement in fueling ongoing anti-government protests.
