‘It Serves The Purpose!’ – Senator Omtatah On Why He Chains Himself At Protests
Okiya Omtatah, a civil rights activist who now serves as Busia County Senator, has stated for the first time why he chains himself during protests.
The civil rights activist declared unequivocally that his chaining strategy during demonstrations is a means of protecting oneself from police aggression.
Senator Omtatah was speaking candidly in a live interview with digital content creator Oga Obbina on Monday night, January 21, 2025.
Furthermore, the vociferous Senator stated that the chain not only protects them from police abuse but also isolates them from goons who enter protests.
Defiant protesters chain themselves together and chant anti-abduction slogans; Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah among them. pic.twitter.com/VvhbNAMNdn
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) December 30, 2024
“One of the things the chains do, first, it isolates because people come to intervene in demos and be causing mayhem,” Omtatah explained.
“Second askaris when they try to attack you in that position they become very vulnerable to cameras, and third kungolewa hapo kama umeshika hiyo nyororo it becomes very difficult.”
Omtatah claims that the chaining stunt is a spiritual intervention because he had requested God to provide him with a safe recipe to address Kenyans’ plight.
This was a reference to the first time he tied himself in 2008 at Nairobi’s Vigilance House following the 2007 post-election unrest.
Activist Okiya Omtatah explains why used a chain in demonstrations #FridayBriefing pic.twitter.com/unNSEBTXzg
— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) September 7, 2018
When questioned why he chained himself to the police headquarters, Omtatah explained that he did so to air out Kenyans’ frustrations after press conferences were outlawed.
The 2027 presidential candidate went on to say that several people had approached him as an activist and requested him to conduct a press conference to discuss the continued violations of human rights.
“One thing was to get under their skin because they had declared a curfew in Nairobi with no movement; some people reached out and told me to hold a press conference. Remember, Michuki had banned press conferences.
“I went to the Holy Family Basilica and prayed and told God I was going to sleep, and tomorrow when I woke up I wanted to come up with a formula on how I could be able to address the press when I woke up; everything was clear in my mind,” Omtatah disclosed.
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He also alleged that he was able to organize a press conference and violated the media restriction by addressing both local and international media.
The activist stated that he was not wounded during the entire operation.
“From that chaining, I was able to break the ban Michuki had placed on the media; I was able to address even the international media, and I was able to hold my press conference, and I did not get injured in the whole process,” he added.
Omtatah has always chained himself or been bound with other activists since that day.
‘It Serves The Purpose!’ – Senator Omtatah On Why He Chains Himself At Protests
