Raila Calls Off Countrywide Rallies, Sets New Date
He had planned to use the rallies for public consultations with regard to the...
Marvin Chege 
Former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has called off the mass protests that were set for Wednesday, November 30.
He had planned to use the rallies for public consultations with regard to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's (IEBC) four breakaway commissioners.
Speaking on Tuesday, November 29 during a Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting with Azimio la Umoja Members of Parliament (MP), Odinga cited the ongoing national examinations as the reason for calling off the rallies.
While setting the new date for Wednesday, December 7, Odinga noted that they won’t accept the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee’s (JLAC) report and referred to it as the work of a hired hit squad and a lynch mob.
Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, and Eugene Wamalwa attend the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition PG at the SKM Centre in Karen on November 29, 2022. /TWITTER
‘We will not recognize their findings. We are aware JLAC will table their report on the 1st and a special sitting on the 7th. This shows how myopic they are,” he said.
The meetings were to begin on Wednesday in Kamukunji, Nairobi, before moving on to Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Kakamega.
This comes after President William Ruto deployed police officers across the country to ensure the candidates have a smooth period to write their exams ahead of the rallies.
"We have mobilised enough security to ensure that the exams go as planned because this is a very important moment for our nation.
"Each examination centre will have officers to ensure that there are no incidences, distraction, disruption and that students have an opportunity to have their examination in a tranquil environment," he said while at the Joseph Kang'ethe Primary School in Kibra on Tuesday, November 29.
Ruto had previously invited the opposing Azimio coalition to work with his government, adding that they are free to criticise them on any aspect but to do so peacefully.
"I want to tell our brothers in the opposition to work with us, to criticise whatever they want to criticise but let's keep the country peaceful. We want everybody to do their job, we want to do our job and we wish well for the opposition in doing their job, but they should do it peacefully.
"I do not think organising demonstrations and getting Kenyans to do the things they want Kenyans to do is part of holding any government to account. They are free to criticise what we are doing, that's okay with us and we appreciate but I want to encourage them not to drive Kenyans against one another," he said.
In a rebuttal against the opposition, Ruto accused the Azimio coalition of trying to dig their own hole by carving out a dictatorial style within the coalition when they have been accusing the government of regressing the country to the Nyayo regime.
"Street demonstrations and street fights should not be part of the script of any responsible opposition unless they want to be a dictatorial opposition, which I don't think that's where they want to go because that works for nobody and it doesn't even work for them," he added.
IEBC Vice chairperson Juliana Cherera and commissioners Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang'aya are accused of gross violation of the Constitution and a breach of their oath of office, which makes their status, according to them, illegal to hold office.
