The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition maintains its stance to proceed with the scheduled anti-government protests from Wednesday to Friday, despite facing strong warnings from the government.
During a gathering at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation (JOOF) on Monday, Opiyo Wandayi, the National Assembly Minority Leader, emphasized that they refuse to back down from their constitutional duty to conduct peaceful protests.
The Ugunja MP asserted that neither President William Ruto nor any other institution has the power to prevent them from organizing the planned protests.
“The peaceful protests planned for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week are on as earlier declared by our leaders. These protests will go on in line with Article 37 of our Constitution which provides for freedom of peaceful assembly and picketing and no authority has got the power to suspend the operations of Article 37, no person, authority, agency, not William Ruto, Kithure Kindiki, not Rigathi Gachagua,” he said.
“No person and anybody purporting to stop demonstrations is deluding themselves because they have no power.”
Simultaneously, he confirmed that the signature collection drive aimed at removing President Ruto from office remains on track and will run concurrently with the planned protests.
As of July 11, Raila Odinga, the leader of Azimio la Umoja, reported that the signature drive had already amassed over 1.2 million signatures.
In a critical remark directed at the government, Wandayi insisted that President Ruto should step down and acknowledge the failure of their policies, thereby creating an opportunity for a new administration that can offer effective solutions.
He argued that the government has lost touch with its citizens, which is a primary reason driving people to protest throughout the nation.
“We are shocked at how fast Kenya Kwanza has lost contact with the people and how they don’t understand what Kenyans are going through,” he said.
President Ruto has issued a stern caution to Odinga, advising him against moving forward with the planned demonstrations, stating that the government will confront him directly if he proceeds.
In addition, Ruto directly warned his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, accusing him of secretly funding the anti-government protests due to his continued association with Odinga.
Ruto emphasized that while peaceful protest is a constitutionally protected right, if the demonstrations result in further violence or bloodshed, Odinga will face the full force of the country’s security apparatus and legal system.
by: Jobcentre