Rioters Upset Plan For Mboya's Cortege

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32037, 11 July 1969, Page 11

Rioters Upset Plan For Mboya ' s Cortege

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

KISUMU (Kenya), July 10.

Rioting broke out in Kenya yesterday as some 100,000 screaming Luo tribesmen forced Mr Tom Mboya’s funeral cortege to turn aside from its planned route and speed out of the Lake Victoria port of KisUmu.

The hearse bearing the assassinated Minister’s body swerved to avoid the city centre and headed directly for Homa Bay, south of Kisumu at 70 miles an hour with its police escort blaring their sirens. Riot police again went into action with tear gas. The crowd retaliated, throwing stones at the motorcade.

Reporters said the demonstrations were not tribal in character, but reflected the impatience of the crowd who had waited for up to 10 hours to get a glimpse of Mr Mboya’s coffin. Earlier on the journey from Nairobi, some cars in the cortege were involved in an accident and the hearse had a mechanical breakdown, but the procession had travelled through the predominantly Kikuyu country immediately to the north of the capital without incident. When it was some 15 miles short of this Luo stronghold crowds surged across the road to view the coffin. Paramilitary riot police beat them back and a police spotter plane buzzed the crowd in an attempt to clear the road. | As the procession neared i Kisumu it was constantly forced to stop. People shou-

ted “Dume, dume,’’ meaning “bull," the symbol of the minority Opposition Kenya People’s Union Party. Others shouted “Majimbo.” a 1963 election era slogan denoting a desire for regionalisation. The procession had not originally been scheduled to pass through Kisumu, but after protests by the City Council that this was an area which heavily supported the former economics minister, officials in Nairobi changed the route to include it. Nairobi, where Mr Mboya was shot by an unknown gunman on Saturday, was calm after the tribal rioting which accompanied the Requiem Mass. Mr Mboya’s body will lie in state at Homa Bay and will be buried with full tribal rites on Rusinga Island on Friday.