Raila: We'll go to Treasury, Ruto’s office during Tuesday demos

Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga says the planned anti-government protests by the opposition will still take place on Tuesday despite the police’s refusal to permit them.

Through a statement on Sunday, Odinga maintained that the opposition is exercising their constitutional right to assemble, demonstrate, picket, and present petitions to public authorities peaceably and unarmed.

As a result, he announced that they shall present petitions to four government offices on Tuesday in an effort to pressure President William Ruto’s administration to heed their demands.

Odinga, who has refused to concede defeat to Dr Ruto in the August 2022 presidential race, said they will present a petition to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to substantiate their claim that the election results were doctored and demand an audit of the electoral servers.

“We shall also petition IEBC against the sacking of the four commissioners because it presents a dangerous precedent in which in all future elections, all commissioners will be required to agree with the chairperson of IEBC, effectively making the election a one-person show,” he said.

He announced that they will also present a petition to the Office of the President “proving that the cost of food, fuel, electricity and fees remain unacceptably high.”

“We will further petition OP to desist from invading and destroying rival political parties as was attempted on Jubilee headquarters and through the auction of MPs in Parliament,” he added.

According to Odinga, they will also head to the National Treasury to petition for the immediate release of all funds owed to counties and the timely payment of salaries to all civil servants.

“We plan to visit the Public Service Commission on the day to demand that appointments to public offices be done purely on the basis of merit and inclusivity, not tribe as is presently the case. We cannot have a country of close to 50 tribes where appointments go only to members of one tribe,” Odinga’s statement further read.

He accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of trying to suppress them, saying “We shall not agree to be cowed into silence when so many things are going wrong in the country; with cults that enjoy patronage and protection from State House killing Kenyans, including children, in their hundreds, goons hired by the state invading and destroying private property, massive corruption making a grand return to the country and tribalism taking an unprecedented sway in public offices.”

On Sunday, the Nairobi Regional Police Commander, Adamson Bungei, said protests will not be permitted in the capital, despite Azimio's notice informing the police of their plan to take to the streets.

He said the opposition has not demonstrated goodwill in previous demonstrations, adding that they did not meet the threshold of peaceful protests stipulated in Section 37 of the constitution and Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

Azimio, according to the police boss, violated Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which allows for peaceful and unarmed demonstrations.

His announcement came a day after President Ruto issued a warning against any form of lawlessness or destruction of property by opposition supporters during the panned Tuesday demos.

Ruto on Saturday said while he had given Odinga an option to address any grievances peacefully through the proposed bi-partisan parliamentary process, the opposition leader had opted to stage demonstrations instead.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there will be no demonstrations to destroy people’s property, to cause chaos, to stop people from going to work, or our children from going to school. That will not happen,” he said.

Odinga called off the bi-weekly protests on April 2, after President Ruto welcomed Odinga to bi-partisan parliamentary talks to address their grievances.

But the process has not effectively taken off, with the opposition accusing the Kenya Kwanza team of failing to commit to holding constructive talks.

Odinga also demanded out-of-parliament dialogue akin to the 2008 National Accord, which President Ruto shut down.