Activist Collins Odhiambo, who gained attention days before the Occupy Parliament protests for carrying a Kenyan flag at the Holy Family Basilica while urging congregants to reject the Finance Bill, has narrated the events that led to his arrest at All Saints Cathedral.
Collins was arrested on September 15 within All Saints Cathedral premises.
Speaking during an X Space forum dubbed ‘Criminalizing Demands for Accountability is Unconstitutional,’ Odhiambo shared his experience.
Collins wanted to deliver a petition to churches, urging them to allow the teaching of civic education, so he chose All Saints Cathedral as his first destination.
Collins Odhiambo narrates events that led to his arrest
What prompted him to begin these campaigns and approach churches to plead with the clergy to let him speak to the congregants was the church’s silence on the current political situation, and he felt someone had to take action.
“I wanted to start a petition to churches to allocate 20 minutes to educate the masses on ethical voting, so I decided on that particular day to go to All Saints Cathedral,” Odhiambo said.
When he arrived at the cathedral, Odhiambo started distributing flyers to the congregants which contained his civic education message.
While distributing those materials, Odhiambo said one of the security guards spotted him and asked him what his intentions were.
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Odhiambo told him that he was educating the congregants about civic education on voting.
His response was met with resistance and the security personnel ordered him to get out from the church and wait for the priest to finish his mass so that he would present his grievances to him.
“The security guard ordered me to wait outside and wait for Provost Okello to finish his mass so that I would present my petition to him at personal level,” Odhiambo narrated.
Collins headed to the security guard’s demands but unfortunately, he was not allowed to meet the priest after the service.
“The security personnel did not honor his word. He refused to let me enter the church and brandished a gun at me,” Odhiambo recounted.
However, Collins insisted he was doing nothing wrong and pleaded with the guard to allow him to present his petition.
Upon realizing that Collins was reluctant to leave the church premises, the security guard called two police officers assigned to protect the cathedral and informed them that he was a ‘threat’.
Police Officers arrest Collins
The police officers placed handcuffs on him and tried to drag him into a private car, but he resisted, given the recent events of alleged abductions by police officers.
He was later bundled into a police car and taken to Capitol hill police station.
Odhiambo recounted that he was fortunate that one of the people locked up with him had a phone, which they used to contact his friend in the U.S., who has a large social media following, to alert Kenyans about his arrest.
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His arrest went viral, and he was finally released the following day following the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) intervention.
Collins expressed dissatisfaction with the cathedral, stating that they watched him being arrested by police officers, and none of them intervened to find out what the issue was.
Despite his arrest, Collins vowed to continue traversing different churches to present his petition.
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