By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- None of your demonstrations has ever been peaceful. This violate Article 37 of the constitution which requires the protesters to disarmed and maintain peace. Dr Ruto added. Don’t test my patient. I want them to know I’m the President of the Republic of Kenya.
- I won the elections fairly and squarely. The IEBC had declared him as the winner and his victory was upheld by the Supreme Court of Kenya.
- Take from me. This time, Dr Ruto stated he will undertake his constitutional duties of protecting the lives of Kenyans and their properties without fear and law breakers would be dealt with firmly.
Kenyans did not take seriously the announcement by the chairman of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Council and a former Kakamega Governor Wyclifee Oparanya that the coalition would resume its mass protests on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
This is because they expecting this declaration to be made by the coalition leader Raila Odinga as it had been the case before.
But as the media report indicated, Raila was out of the country at the time.
This, perhaps, explains why the Council chairman issued the statement.
Raila had travelled to Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a one-week tour which some of his allies termed as a personal trip.
A section of the leaders and their supporters were yet to be convinced. They had to wait for him to return so that they can hear this from horse’s mouth.
Upon his arrival, Raila who addressed a protest rally in Kibra Nairobi stated that the plans to hold mass action starting on Tuesday have not changed.
I urge you turn up in large numbers.
He was flanked by his troops as it emerged that this time Azimio was planning to storm Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
It is worth to note that the state security teams had successfully blocked them during thier previous demonstrations.
In a swift rejoinder, President Ruto warned Raila and his brigade.
Even this time we will not allow you to access CBD.
This is because we know your intentions are to endanger the lives of innocent Kenyans and destroy properties.
None of your demonstrations has ever been peaceful. This violate Article 37 of the constitution which requires the protesters to disarmed and maintain peace.
Dr Ruto added. Don’t test my patient. I want them to know I’m the President of the Republic of Kenya.
I won the elections fairly and squarely. The IEBC had declared him as the winner and his victory was upheld by the Supreme Court of Kenya.
Take from me. This time, Dr Ruto stated he will undertake his constitutional duties of protecting the lives of Kenyans and their properties without fear and law breakers would be dealt with firmly.
In his speech at Kibra, Raila reiterated we in Azimio are going back to the streets because the Kenya Kwanza government is not taking our demands seriously.
He alleged Dr Ruto was looking down our issues and advising his team to ignore them.
He would not provide tangible evidence to support these claims.
With due respect to Raila, his latest turnaround seemed to demonstrate that he had not shed off the tag of changing goal posts and engaging in double-speak.
We know he had called off the mass action to give a dialogue a chance.
He said this was in reciprocation of President Ruto’s televised address to the nation which he had made one hour earlier.
The president has agreed we engage in talks aimed at resolving the post-election political crisis. This is a move in the right direction.
In his address, the president position was very clear. The bipartisan talks must be held within the parameters of the law and constitution.
This means that the issues raised by Azimio and Kenya Kwanza should be addressed by parliament.
The president has up to date maintained that position.
For Raila, he has turned around and denounced the talks he had supported.
This amounts to denting his image. Kenyans would view him as a person who lacked focus, consistent and was being held hostage by the hardliners around him.
Well, I have been listening to Azimio’s main bone of contention that revolves around the issue of the composition of the members of the parliamentary driven partisan talks.
They say the decision by Kenya Kwanza to pick MP Aden Keynan as a member of their team showed the government was not committed to the talks.
This is because Keynan is a member of Jubilee party which is an affiliate of Azimio.
The Kenya Kwanza would counter this by even. Even you, you had poached our member to sit on your side.
This is in apparent reference to MP David Pkosing who was elected on a ticket of the Kenya Union Party (KUP).
This party had signed pre-election agreement with Azimio but it has since ditched the coalition and joined Kenya Kwanza.
Raila brigade claims this was not done in accordance with the law. Let them tell us the provisions of the law that were violated.
To my understanding, the affiliates of Azimio were free to shift camp by signing post-elections agreements.
This is what KUP which is led by former governor of West Pokot Lunyangapuo did.
I’m happy to note that Kenya Kwanza is willing to drop Keynan and replace him with a member of their party. This because they want to save the talks for the sake of peace and development of our country.
I hope Azimio will reciprocate this by dropping Pkosing and calling off demonstrations.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
