Photos shared by Azimio La Umoja leader Raila Odinga showed cars that had been sprayed with pink water during maandamano Thursday in Nairobi’s Pipeline area.
The pictures elicited a range of responses, but one recurring query was why police would spray pink water on demonstrators.
There is an easy solution: to eventually arrest them.
During the protests, the Kenyan police used water cannons that have tanks built into them to hold semi-permanent colored dye.
The driver or operator of the water cannon will activate the water stream when instructed to do so by his commander if police observe demonstrators breaching a barricade.
Anyone hit by the water cannon’s spray will stand out in the crowd and be easy to identify.
The dye is intended to make it easier for officers to recognize rioters, according to a senior police officer who spoke with GOTTA.news.
However, he pointed out that the use of water cannons during the maandamano on Monday and Thursday was more focused on scattering the rioters than on making charges.
“As you can see in Kisumu and Nairobi, the police have exercised restraint and have chosen to disperse the demonstrators rather than make arrests,” he said.
Water cannons.Photo/Courtesy
The officer, who asked to remain anonymous because his position prevents him from speaking to the media, reiterated that thousands would be in police custody right now if police were eager to make arrests.
On Friday, March 31, some Kenyans alleged that the water was poisonous and caused skin itchiness.
The police, however, have insisted that the water is safe.
The Purple shall govern
In September 1989, demonstrators marching on the Parliament in Cape Town were doused with a dark purple spray, making it one of the most well-known uses of colored water cannons.
In the following melee, one of the marchers managed to wrest control of the water cannon and refocus it on the local National Party headquarters.
The historic Old Town House, which was painted white, and the offices were both covered in purple paint.
The expression “The Purple Shall Govern” was written on the Old Town House the following day by a graffiti artist. This phrase quickly gained popularity as an anti-apartheid slogan.
Azimio La Umoja Convoy was doused in pink-dyed water. Photo/courtesy
Due to their association with the brutal repression of civil rights demonstrators in the 1960s, water cannons are rarely used in other jurisdictions, such as the US.
READ ALSO: WATCH: Azimio Man Tricks Police, Escapes Arrest During Maandamano
Other methods of detecting rioters
The “less lethal gun,” the FN303, can be equipped with pellets that can be used to identify rioters for later capture.
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