Raila Threatens Mass Protests In Demands To Ruto

Azimio la Umoja coalition leader, Raila Odinga, has now given President William Ruto 14 days to meet his demands, threatening mass action if failure to do so.

Speaking at Jeevanjee Gardens, Nairobi County, Raila called for the food subsidies to be restored to protect Kenyans from the high cost of living.

He further demanded for the taxes imposed on Kenyans to come down in 14 days.

“We have been talking about the rising cost of basic commodities like unga, electricity, diesel, petrol sugar, and milk among others for far too long. We have complained about raising taxes and we have lately talked about children dropping out of school for lack of fees.

Raila Odinga at Jeevanjee Gardens on February 22, 2023. /NATION BREAKING

"Withdrawal of subsidies on food and education in a middle of a drought and famine was a reckless move. Subsidies must be restored, and the price of basic commodities and taxes must come down in the next 14 days," Raila stated.

The former Prime Minister further compelled the government to subsidise fees to fulfil a 100 per cent transition in a bid to tackle the rising cases of learners dropping out of school.

Raila further called for the end to electoral deceit, specifically for the services to be opened and audited under the auspices of a reputable firm or organisation, failure to which "we shall lead people to restore their authority and voice.”

He also called for the ongoing process of reconstituting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to stop and instead have a bipartisan task force be set up to reform IEBC in a manner that ends its monolithic operations.

"If these demands are not heeded within 14 days, we shall lead Kenyans to massive mass action across the country to take their power back and restore sanity," Raila threatened.

Raila further referenced the book of Amos 5:11 and referred to Prophet Amos' warning which stated:

"You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them," quoted Raila.

He further accused the Kenya Kwanza government of unfairly targeting members of the Cabinet under former President Uhuru Kenyatta as well as Uhuru's allies, referencing the likes of former Interior CS Fred Matiang'i and his lawyer, Danstan Omari. 

Omari was summoned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to appear at the DCI headquarters on Wednesday, February 22 but failed to do so, asking for the summons to be pushed to the following day as he was dealing with a number of cases.

"You see how they keep punishing Uhuru's former Cabinet. Recently, we saw what happened to Matiang'i. Now they want to inflict harm on Danstan Omari as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) wrote to him to investigate him. We want to tell them to leave Matiang'i and Omari alone," he added.

Raila further praised the actions of comedian Eric Omondi who led peaceful demonstrations outside Parliament before he was arrested, noting that it was a constitutional right.

"Now Eric Omondi went to Parliament to defend Kenyans' rights and have peaceful demonstrations. We want to show Ruto that peaceful demonstration is a right," Raila warned.

Omondi, alongside 16 protesters, were later set free on a cash bail of Ksh10,000 each after they were charged with taking part in an illegal demonstration outside Parliament Buildings.

All the accused persons denied the charges when they appeared before Milimani Law Courts Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina.

Comedian Eric Omondi with other accused persons leaving the Milimani Law Courts after they were released on a cash bail of Ksh10,000 on February 22, 2023. /DAILY NATION