Raila Dismisses Nyong'o's Suspension Of Azimio Protests In Kisumu

Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga, on Wednesday, March 29 reiterated that demonstrations in Kisumu would continue as planned, despite Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o's initial announcement suspending the demos set for Mondays and Thursdays of every week.

Speaking at Capital Hill offices after a meeting with the Catholic church leaders led by Bishop Anthony Muheria, Raila affirmed that the demonstrations would go on as initially planned.

He noted that a meeting he had with Governor Nyong'o, who agreed with the move, had influenced the former Prime Minister to disregard the county boss' initial announcement even though Nyong'o earlier held consultations with the Azimio National leadership and the County Executive Committee (the cabinet).

"We want to take this opportunity to thank Kenyans who have been coming to our meetings.

"There was an announcement today by the governor of Kisumu about the demonstration in Kisumu. We have talked with him and he has asked us to announce that there will be demonstrations in Kisumu tomorrow with the rest of the country," he announced.

He reiterated that the protests would be held in line with the Constitution which contains laws guiding how demonstrations are held and that they would be peaceful.

"They will be peaceful. According to article 37 of our constitution, these demonstrations must be peaceful," he went on.

Nyong'o affirmed the move stating that the people had a right to express themselves and fight for the rights of the people.

He urged the police to provide security during the demonstrations claiming that they were aware of plans by hired goons to cause disruptions during the protests in Kisumu. 

"We know that goons have been hired to disrupt the peaceful protests but we urge our people to not allow them to do so. We urge you to turn out in large numbers, we call upon the police to ensure peace and security during the demonstrations," the governor stated.

Responding to concerns about revenue being lost in the demonstrations, Nyong'o revealed that the county government had considered that before moving ahead with staging demonstrations in the city.

"It is not an easy balance between fighting for rights and enjoying the fruits of that fight. Losing revenue is painful even for me and we took that into consideration by making sure productivity in terms of work continues," added the governor.

Earlier, Nyong'o had suspended the demonstrations but announced that the protesters would join their counterparts in Nairobi.

This triggered a backlash from Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who urged him to keep the protesters within the precincts of his county while slamming his idea of exporting protesters to the capital.

"Nairobians have patiently put up with the disruption, and their taxes have paid for its aftermath. In the spirit of devolution, I would advise the Governor of Kisumu, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o', to keep his demonstrations to his County," he stated in part.

Raila was yet to respond to Sakaja after he pulled a near-similar move to Nyong'o and suspended subsequent protests in the capital city.