Azimio MPs: 7 reasons why we are holding a mass protest on Monday

Ahead of their planned mega demonstration on Monday, Members of Parliament allied to the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition have issued a list of their main areas of contention with President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.

Azimio has under the leadership of opposition leader Raila Odinga been holding rallies countrywide to mobilise Kenyans to reject Ruto’s government which they call illegal.

They say the government has made life harder for Kenyans, citing the high cost of living. Their tour culminates in a protest at the capital.

In a statement on Thursday, the Azimio MPs decried what they termed as Kenya Kwanza’s ignorance of the pleas of Kenyans.

They criticised Ruto’s regime for what they described as hurting the country's economy “through acts of omission and commission.”

Here are the seven reasons the legislators gave for their protest:

1.     Cost of Living

Azimio faults President Ruto for scrapping subsidies on petrol, electricity, unga and school fees, saying the Head of State has proceeded to introduce more and higher taxes on basic goods, leading to all-time high prices.

“The high cost of goods is, therefore, a direct result of Ruto's decisions and policy choices and which he continues to stand by. It is not that there is nothing Kenya Kwanza could do save the people Kenya,” the coalition says.

2.      Discrimination in State appointments

According to Azimio, the Kenya Kwanza regime has continued with a policy that makes Kenya “a one-community nation in which critical appointments to public offices go only to members of one ethnic group”.

The outfit says that come Monday, Kenyans “will seek to speak to Ruto directly, register their unhappiness with this state of affairs and demand inclusivity in appointments.”

3.      Privatisation of Kenya

Azimio takes issue with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s comments on Kenya operating similarly to a company with shareholders.

4.       Audit of IEBC servers

Azimio calls an audit of IEBC servers used in the 2022 General Election, terming it “a step towards electoral justice and ensuring the integrity of elections in future.”

5.      Assembling the new IEBC

“We will be in Nairobi on Monday to make it clear to Mr. Ruto that we do not support his decision to reconstitute the IEBC without consulting other stakeholders and interested parties,” the coalition says.

6.       Assault on multiparty democracy

Azimio accuses Ruto of efforts to make Kenya a one-party state by buying legislators, through “orchestrating meaningless defections and forcing other parties to fold and join his own.”

7.      Regime incompetence

“It is now clearly evident and undisputed that Kenya Kwanza is an extremely incompetent and clueless regime and to allow it to continue pretending to be governing is to betray the country. Everything that can go wrong is going wrong. Our Kenya shilling has collapsed and the regime doesn't know what to do. The dollar has disappeared. Cost of unga. electricity and fuel is still going up,” the coalition says.