Azimio Releases Their Final Stand On Gen Z Protests

In a video he shared after attending a series of meetings within the opposition coalition, the former lawmaker revealed that Azimio had reached the agreement officially after experiencing a split after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga met with the Head of State.

“We have had a series of meetings as members of Azimio at different levels and we may have been reading different scripts before the meetings that we had yesterday and today,” Kioni stated.

“The official position of Azimio is that we are not entering into any dialogue with UDA. We are not joining the government of William Ruto.”

He further noted that the coalition, and Jubilee Party of which former President Uhuru Kenyatta is a leader, stands with Gen Zs who, for the last month, launched a spate of demonstrations aimed at holding the state accountable.

Kioni explained that the opposition had given the Head of State irreducible minimums which, if not met, would see the Jubilee party join the youth in protests.

“We stand by the demands that have been put forward by Gen Zs and we have demands that we made that need to be addressed very quickly. We, in Jubilee, hold that if those demands are not met then what is left of us is just to join the Gen Zs in the demonstrations,” he added.

“One of the demands is these unnecessary abductions. Even before we talk about the killings, we would like to join the families that have been left by family members, those who are still looking for those members who are lost. We condemn the regime for this heinous act that it has continued to occasion on these young families.”

His remarks came hours after Azimio leader Raila Odinga dismissed calls for Ruto to step down as demanded by the protesters.

The former Prime Minister argued that removing Ruto would see Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ascend to the top job and continue to promote the same policies the youth have been fighting.

“Ruto goes, then what? Ruto may go then Gachagua takes over [to continue] implementing bad policies. Ruto can also say ‘I am tired, let the [military] generals take over. Then the country begins to go through what Egypt went through after Tahrir Square. ‘Ruto must go’ cannot be an end,” Odinga revealed.

“It’s at times of crisis like this that a country needs to talk. We are not doing it to save Ruto. We are doing it to save Kenya. Generals don’t have teargas. They don’t have water cannons. They have bullets.”

Last night, Acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, however, banned protests in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) until further notice.

He explained that intelligence informed the police that organised criminal groups were planning to take advantage of protests to execute various forms of crime.

By Newsmedia