This archive report was first published on 13 July 2019.
Eric Wainaina's Concert Disrupted by City Askaris ¶
On July 12, 2019, musician Eric Wainaina's concert at The Elephant, a recording studio-cum-concert venue on James Gichuru Road, was disrupted by city askaris. The incident left fans teargassed and demanding the release of those arrested.
Activist Boniface Mwangi, who was among the guests at the concert, claimed that the askaris stormed in and gave no explanation for the disruption. Eric Wainaina's wife, Sheba Hirst, alleged that she was punched on the face by the askaris.
"I was punched in the face but a city council cop and thrown to the ground," Sheba Hirst tweeted.
The askaris arrested three concert attendees and a photographer who tried to film the arrest. Fans congregated at Central Police Station to demand for the release of the three concert attendees.
However, police dispersed them at around 2am by lobbing tear gas canisters at them. Boniface Mwangi tweeted, "We have been tear-gassed and kicked out of Central Police Station at 2am. We live in a violent state. Instead of @NPSOfficial_KE using reason, they said we were a threat because thirty plus people came to find out why @MikeSonko Askaris arrested concert attendees."
