Man Thrown Out of Moi Funeral [VIDEO]

The heckler started a commotion while Gideon Moi was speaking about the former president’s compassionate nature.

In a video that has since gone viral, the man, who appears to be middle-aged, was held back by security officers in the event, before being hastily dragged outside. 

Three security officers had held him back but upon resisting, several more emerged to pull him out of the stadium.

It remains unclear why the determined man was incensed to the extent of waging a public protest in what should otherwise have been a peaceful forum.

The still-unidentified man joins the ranks of Fred Odhiambo, Walter Mong’are alias Nyambane and Boniface Mwangi, who have in the past disrupted state events to make a point of national importance.

Odhiambo will be remembered for breaching President Mwai Kibaki’s security detail on Jamhuri Day in 2008. He succeeded in blending in sufficiently to find a seat just two rows shy of the president.

When Mwai Kibaki began to speak, Odhiambo decided it was the time to start shouting in protest.

For his trouble delivering his messages to then-President Mwai Kibaki, Fred Odhiambo sustained injuries that landed him in the Nairobi Women’s Hospital.

During the 2008 Jamhuri Day celebrations on December 12, 2008, Nyambane alongside several media personalities including Felix Odwuor alias Jalang’o, forced then-President, Mwai Kibaki, to cut short his speech.

They were protesting against a communications bill that sought to muffle the media, as well as rising food prices and failure by MPs to pay their taxes. 

In one of the rarest moments on live television, Nyambane was wrestled to the ground by senior police officers as he attempted to get into the stadium. 

He was dressed, then, in a prisoner’s uniform that symbolized the implications of the bill if Kibaki assented it into law. Him and six others, including Jalang’o, were held for six hours by the police before they were released.

Boniface Mwangi, for his part, shouted down retired President Mwai Kibaki during Madaraka Day celebrations in 2009. The activist was beaten and later charged in court for his actions.

He has come out in staunch support of the Moi Mass Heckler:

“Whoever that person that tried to heckle the lies being told at #MoiFinalJourney [is], I salute your courage. I hope the National Police Service will not torture him like they did to me in 2009.”

The forceful removal of the heckler is not the only scuffle witnessed at the funeral ceremony. President Kagame’s bodyguards were also seemingly involved in a push and pull with security personnel earlier in the day.

In a still unexplained turn of events, a momentary protocol hitch resulted in security officers ppearing to bar access to the Rwandan President’s security detail. 

The ensuing war of wills roped in ICT CS Joes Mucheru who is seen being pushed away by security officers in a video that has been shared widely on social media.

The CS had been trying to work his way into the venue when he was yanked away by security personnel at the gate. Other reports indicate that the CS was indirectly associated with the commotion by apparently using the entrance reserved for heads of state.