As a result of what he called a “successful mission” from the march on Friday, Azimio leader Raila Odinga has called for more demonstrations on Wednesday for the remainder of the week.
Odinga expressed his happiness that his followers had the guts to march from Kamukunji, where he had spoken at a rally, to the Nairobi Central Business District.
He remarked, “We are unstoppable,” and added, “We secured an enormous accomplishment because we were capable of managing to access the CBD despite the fact that police attempted to apprehend us.”
Following him from Kamukunji, where he was supported by several other Opposition figures, police fired tear gas to break up the throng.
After this successful rally, we will have an additional one on Wednesday the following week, he added. “We even reached the KICC, where they had previously prevented us from entering, and we finished up at Central Park,” he said.
During a news conference at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation (JOOF), Odinga informed the media that the action is an integral component of the reinvigorated push to remove President William Ruto from office.
At the beginning of the gathering of the 10 million signatures, he declared that “the authority belonged to the citizens, and that’s why I contend that as a nation we must get it back.”
The head of Azimio also blamed the police for trying to stop the demonstrations, which he said Kenyans had a constitutional right to do, while also alleging that his motorcade had been fired at during Friday’s demonstrations.
He presented images of what seemed to be a gunshot hole in the side of his car during the news conference.
In another picture, the back glass of his car was partially broken.
As he demonstrated to a reporter some of the harm that had occurred to his car, Odinga stated, “We were truly trying to make it to the KICC, and they stopped us, and they started firing in our way.”
In a previous call for a mass march to Nairobi’s Central Park on Friday, Odinga rekindled his opposition to President Ruto’s administration.
Although Odinga was able to enter the City Centre, the anti-riot police confronted the politician and those who supported him using strong force and used tear gas and water cannons to prevent them from entering Central Park.
Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s rejection of his appeal in September 2022, Odinga has opposed the recognition of Ruto’s presidency and has urged his followers to “directly exercise power” by referring to Ruto’s election as “illegal”.
“We are stating now that further debate is not necessary. The first chapter of our constitution declares that the people hold authority. At a gathering at Nairobi’s Kamukunji grounds, he assured his followers that they had that authority and could use it whenever they wanted.
A few weeks after his forces abandoned bipartisan discussions in Parliament, hundreds of Azimio fans congregated in Kamukunji as Odinga prepared for a new round of anti-government demonstrations.
Speaking to his followers on Friday, Odinga said that Kenyans had been deceived by Parliament after losing a sizable number of Azimio legislators to Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza faction.
“The Kenyans who got elected to Parliament have misled them. Ruto has abandoned Kenyans by unlawfully assuming power.
The head of the opposition said that the demonstrations were in rebellion against President Ruto’s administration’s “punitive taxation” and the elevated costs of living.
The supporters expressed their displeasure with the status of the economy and the tax policies implemented by President Ruto’s administration under the Finance Act 2023, unfazed by the early morning cold and precipitation.
Some whistle-blowers displayed synchronised messages approved by the Odinga-led opposition alliance while chanting “tumechoka!” (we’re exhausted!).
Since then, Odinga has started collecting 10 million signatures, claiming that Kenyans are weary after the Finance Bill’s approval, which caused the rise in commodity prices.
Odinga has vowed to use legal methods to guarantee that the people regain control of the government.
He said, “Power comes with the citizens, and that corresponds to what the Constitution says,” at a Saba Saba protest on Friday in Kamukunji. “We are beginning to gather ten million signatures today.”