Chaos and fighting broke out during Madaraka Day celebrations in Kitui East Constituency on Saturday after suspected goons beat up a Member of County Assembly and a Wiper party official, demanding they leave the event.
Police had to shoot in the air to quell the fighting and restore calm at the event presided over by top government and security officials in the constituency.
Trouble started when area Member of County Assembly Dr Erastus Mbuno (Wiper) arrived at the venue - Makutano Primary School in Endau/Malalani ward - accompanied by Mr Kitheka Ilandi, a Wiper party official.
After exchanging pleasantries with area MP Nimrod Mbai and other dignitaries, the two were confronted by rowdy youth who attacked Mr Ilandi in full glare of security officers, even before he sat down.
The chaos appeared well choreographed to stop the two from participating in the Madaraka Day celebrations, which were presided over by Mwitika Assistant County Commissioner Charles Muriuki.
As the youths rained kicks and blows on the Wiper party official, the Master of Ceremony was heard cheering them on instead of calling for restrain.
The fracas disrupted the reading of the Presidential speech as the crowd dispersed, making strenuous efforts by the local Chiefs and their assistants to plead with the people to resume their seats for the celebrations to proceed.
Efforts to reach County Commissioner Kipchumba Rutto were fruitless and there were no arrests made by police.
In his speech, the Assistant County Commissioner Mr Muriuki condemned the incident calling upon both the MP and his political rivals to exercise restraint in their public activities.
Interestingly, Mr Ilandi, a former military officer served as the chairman of Kitui East Constituency Development Fund (CDF) during Mr Mbai’s first term in Parliament between 2017 and 2022 before the two fell out.
Mr Mbai is not new to controversies and violent confrontations, the latest being an incident late last year where he was captured on camera assaulting a Kenya Power engineer.
After Saturday's fracas, the MP spent several hours ranting on social media and threatening those opposed to him of dire consequences if they stepped their feet in the Constituency.
"I can't spend Sh500,000 on the (Madaraka Day) function and then entertain my rivals to bring their agenda. In my Constituency, you have the freedom of speech but I can't guarantee you freedom after the speech" the MP wrote in several WhatsApp groups.
He dared Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to organise a public rally in the Constituency saying he would face unspecified actions.
"What happened in Endau was just a rehearsal, nobody from other political parties will hold a rally in my Constituency without my approval. Let them dare" he wrote.
Mr Mbai, a former Administration Police Officer who served as a bodyguard to former Kitui West MP the late Francis Nyenze and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, has announced he will contest the County Chairmanship of President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in the forthcoming elections.
