Raila To Reveal When Protests Will Resume After Ramadhan

Azimio la Umoja under party leader, Raila Odinga has revealed that he will announce the date for the resumption of protests immediately after the Ramadhan period.

While addressing his supporters at Ufangamano House on Thursday, April 13, Raila alleged that Azimio had not yet agreed to be part of the negotiations and that the government would not stop them.

"Do we agree that mass action and negotiations should go hand in hand?" Raila asked the Ufungamano crowd. 

"Immediately after the Ramadhan, I will announce when the countrywide mass actions will return," Raila assured.

This comes after the former Prime Minister was pressured to resume the weekly demonstrations over a lack of seriousness by President William Ruto in addressing the grievances of the opposition.

"The people observed worrying signs of lack of seriousness from the Kenya Kwanzaregime to an honest, inclusive and credible process of national dialogue and have called on the Azimio leadership to immediately resume maandamano immediately after the end of Ramadhan," Suba Churchill stated while reading the Draft Resolutions of the Consultative Forum held at Ufungamano House.

On his part, Former Muranga Governor Mwangi Wa Iria threatened to lead anti-government demonstrations in the Mt Kenya region.

"You have said Mt Kenya is not involved in the protests, but that is not true, first of all, we watch and give a period of one year, there are things that we were explained to and voted for; the price of coffee, tea leaves, milk and many other things, no one has spoken about either of them.

"Our protests are coming and I will personally lead them because of the price of coffee, tea leaves, the price of midwifery and small business owners," he stated.

The former county boss claimed that the protests would surpass that of Azimio in Nairobi, as all farmers will come out in solidarity.

Azimio had also underscored that the bipartisan talks (National Dialogue) will be held expeditiously, without undue delays, and completed within thirty days.

Pro-government leaders however dared Azimio to continue with the protests, affirming that they would not be coerced into surrendering to opposition demands.

The coalition also agreed that lowering the cost of Unga, Electricity, Fuel, and other essential commodities was non-negotiable and must be a priority area of discussion at the negotiating table.

It was also agreed that it was critical to have a credible, inclusive, independent, and participatory National Dialogue Process that represents different angles of the opinion of the Kenyan people.

"It is a constitutional imperative to ensure the meaningful participation of the people of Kenya in the National Dialogue," part of the resolution stated. 

Azimio underlined that the values and principles of the National Dialogue framework shall include respect for the ethos, values, and the constitution of Kenya, including the sovereignty of the people, Supremacy of the constitution, participation of the people, respect of human rights, equality and equity, dignity, utmost good faith, commitment to finding genuine solutions to urgent problems facing the people of Kenya, stewardship, and consensus building.

Azimio stated that both the coalition and Kenya Kwanza will present concerns for the National Dialogue and that no party shall have veto power on the thematic concerns and/or the right to oppose a proposed thematic concern from another party.

Despite Kenya Kwanza and Azimio having a total of 14 members in the committee handling the bipartisan talks, Azimio added that each party shall at any time have the power to recall any of its members and appoint a new one through decisions made by consensus and with regards to equality.

Raila Odinga joins other leaders for the town hall meeting at Ufangamano house in Nairobi on April 13, 2023. /RAILA ODINGA