‘Rogue and inconsiderate President!’ LSK President lectures Ruto, Clergy over Finance Bill Protests

The Law Society of Kenya has slammed the government, the clergy, International bodies and professional bodies over the ongoing anti-Finance Bill protests.

LSK President Faith Odhiambo in an emotional statement on Tuesday criticized President William Ruto and the government for sitting pretty as protesters were being shot and killed.

Dubbed ‘black Tuesday’ Ms Odhiambo wondered how the president would allow the demonstrations which are now leading to the deaths of youths to go on, in the name of imposing an unpopular Bill on the people.

She blamed President Ruto over the deaths meted out to youths, urging him to consider his legacy, so as not to be remembered as the president who ‘killed his people to raise more money by passing the controversial Bill.

‘Every Kenyan today who has lost his or her life in the struggle to stamp out corruption and seek economic liberation lies in the hands of a rogue and inconsiderate President,” she stated.

“I congratulate you because history will remember you as the President who had to kill his people to raise more money. June 25, 2024, will go down in history as the day Kenyans died so that their president could please the colonial masters in the name of staggered tax measures recommended for implementation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

She added: “Like all mothers whose children have been killed, injured, tortured or abducted in the hands of cops, I feel the pain of my countrymen. The Gen Z who you call children are out in the streets fighting for your fellow parents in the National Police Service, Parliament, Cabinet and air-conditioned government offices. Just imagine, your child is out there seeking justice when you are comfortably enjoying life. Have we no shame?”

The LSK boss went on to chide the head of state for allegedly deploying the military outside Parliament in the name of containing protesters, saying the Society would pursue justice for the victims even through international investigative bodies.

According to Odhiambo, it was against the law to assign soldiers to deal with internal conflicts since their role was to protect the country from external conflicts.

“We seek Justice; LSK calls upon the international criminal investigation authorities to help poor Kenyan families’ quest for Justice. We have reports and videos that show Kenya Army soldiers engaging protesters in Parliament. We want answers under what law the president used to deploy Kenya's Defence forces on Kenyan soil. No penny is worth human life! No amount of taxation, threats and intimidation will stop this journey for Justice,” LSK noted.

LSK also took issue with the silence witnessed across the clergy; both Muslims and Christians wondered why the religious bodies were mum on the issue of protests and had not come out to call out the government or even join in the demonstrations.

President Odhiambo called into action the different religious groups in the country underscoring that they should have already voiced out their support to the protests or the criticism of the government.

“To the Clergy, council of imams and preachers, where are you today as the country goes down the slopes of dictatorship without respect for the rule of law? Where is my beloved Catholic Church or what became of the Kenyan Conference of Catholic Bishops? Where is the Anglican Church of Kenya and the National Council of Churches when young Kenyans are being dropped dead by bullets from Police Officers? Does the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims still exist?” Ms Odhiambo posed.

“When the time comes to perform burial rites to the dead protesters, what will you tell their family members? Where was the shepherd when the enemy raided and scattered the flock? What stops you men of the cloth from joining peaceful Kenyans in the streets or are you comfortably hiding behind the pulpit waiting for us to come on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday carrying gifts, offertory and tithes? Is that all that you care about? Even if it’s not for the Finance Bill then please come out and let’s protect our children, our brothers, our sisters, or better still your grandchildren.”

The LSK likewise reprimanded the United States and United Kingdom Ambassadors to Kenya Meg Whitman and Neil Wigan OBE, respectively, for their silence on the protests.

She also faulted the two nations for overseeing the recent deployment of 1000 police officers to Haiti, opining that the move was only meant to benefit a few in government.

“Your Excellency Meg Whitman, wasn’t it historic enough that on Monday, June 24, 2024, as Haiti-bound Kenyan Police Officers took to the skies, your boss President Joseph R Biden invoked section 517 of America’s Foreign Assistance Act designating Kenya as a major nonNATO ally of the United States of America?” Asked the LSK boss.

“Congratulations madam Ambassador! Kenyans today enjoyed the first fruits of being a non-NATO ally. And to you, Neil Wigan OBE - his Majesty's High Commissioner to the Republic of Kenya, is the King happy with the deaths of Rex Kanyike Masai, Evans Kiratu and several other protesters shot dead today outside Parliament?”

The Society has urged the Media Council of Kenya, Editors Guild, Public Relations Society, COTU, KNUT and all other professional bodies to come out in unison and speak on the matter.