Azimio, the Umoja Raila Odinga, the head of a Kenyan coalition party, was denied entrance to the site in Shakahola Forest, Kilifi County, where an exhumation operation is underway on Friday.

The opposition party's leader arrived on the scene with several Coastal figures linked with the Azimio political party.

Police personnel on the scene greeted the former premier and his entourage and gave them a tour of the operation's command centre.The trouble began when Mr Odinga and his friends asked to see the shallow mass graves in the area.

Authorities rejected their request, claiming that the location was a crime scene. The police immediately ordered Mr Odinga's group to board their vehicles and leave the grounds, but the former premier's camp refused.


"Tuambie ni nani tunapigia simu," he says. That is not possible. Who is Humheshimu Baba? Twende magari tupande? Is it Iishie Hapa? We shall not do so. Kilifi Woman Representative Gertrude Mwanyanje informed police, "I am a leader in Kilifi County."

Mr Odinga, for his part, stated that police should not prevent members of the public from visiting the site.

"What has occurred here has occurred all over the world." "You should never deny the public, the media, or people representing humanitarian organizations access to the grounds," he urged.

Addressing the site in late April, Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki stated that due to the delicate nature of the exhumation operation, members of the public and press were prohibited access to the grounds.

"The method of exhuming the bodies is a judiciary-ordered process; it is done in accordance with certain ethical and professional standards, which is why we cannot allow everyone to participate in the exhumation or take photographs," he explained.


"Such images are even prohibited by international law because they represent heinous violations of human duty." Because these are the bodies of people's loved ones and relatives, there is a limit to what security officers can do."

He further stated that the State was restricting the mobility of law enforcement officers who had access to the grounds.