Kwakwani yesterday entered its sixth day of protest calling for the removal of the Deputy Regional Executive Officer Devon Bremner and the dissolution of the recently installed Interim Management Committee (IMC).
Five persons who were named as IMC members have said that the publication of their names came as a shock to them because they were never consulted about being a member. Last Monday, despite heated protests by residents in May against government’s plan to replace the Kwakwani Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the Local Government Ministry scrapped the body and replaced it with an IMC.
Residents have since organized protests and according to several persons in the community including Jocelyn Morian and Kelvin Daly, who is one of the key persons on the ground, Friday saw the largest turn-out of residents who walked around the community carrying placards which spoke to their demands. According to Morian, the Minister of Local Government, Norman Whittaker had admitted to entrusting the composition of the IMC member into the hands of a group of residents in Kwakwani who he thought were capable.
Along the route on Friday, the protesters stopped at the Regional Office in the Region Ten community and called for the removal of Bremner who they say is no friend of the people of Kwakwani.
At nightfall, the demonstrators held a candle light vigil and according to Daly, they are expected to erect tents where they will camp for the remainder of the day.
Today, they plan to return to the streets.
“We are peaceful. We want it to remain that way and any element that poses a threat to that, we will deal with,” said Morian as he referred to a physical altercation between an IMC member and one of the protestors. “There was an incident where … an IMC member slapped Neil (a protestor) and we had to restrain him so he wouldn’t retaliate because we want to maintain the peace,” Morian said.
