But President Ruto warned he would not allow the anarchy being propagated by the opposition and vowed to maintain peace and order in the country. The President said he would not allow another Kenyan to die in the wave of violence that has often marred the protests, with six people reportedly killed in last Friday’s Saba Saba protests .
“No child is born to throw stones and attend maandamano (demonstrations) every day. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will have peace, they had their protests on Friday and six people died. Please, this will stop,” the President said.
Instead of using the youth to incite violence, Dr Ruto urged the opposition to give him enough time to implement his development agenda that will benefit millions of Kenyans.
“Give the youth and the people of Kenya a break. We have plans and we will implement them. I know you people, I know your plans and you will fail as you always do,” he added.
With several Kenyans unable to feed themselves due to skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, especially food, President Ruto said his government had invested in the agriculture sector and that food prices would come down in due course.
He also warned the opposition against using food prices as political fodder, urging them to keep their “petty politics away from real issues”.
“It is not right for a few people to think that they can disorganise the country, sabotage Kenya, create mayhem and chaos. That is not politics, that is anarchy and it will not happen. If they want to go to court, let them. But destroying people’s property, killing people, that is a no-go zone,” he said.
On the Finance Act, 2023, which has been stayed by the courts pending hearing and determination by a three-judge bench to be constituted by the Chief Justice, the Commander-in-Chief asked the Judiciary to let lift the freeze to allow the government to collect taxes.
“I am asking the courts to let the Finance Act stand. We want to move on with development. Mama Mbogas are selling their wares in the open without dignity and we want them to do business in a dignified manner,” the President said while handing over some 2,100 title deeds to shareholders of Embakasi Ranching Company in Ruai, Nairobi, where he promised to fast-track the processing of title deeds for another batch of 6,000 land owners in two months’ time.
But even as the President talked tough, Mr Odinga on Tuesday led other Azimio bigwigs in the launch of a digital signature collection platform to complement the ongoing manual process, announcing that at least 1.2 million Kenyans had appended their signatures by July 11,2023 in the programme dubbed the Tumechoka (we are tired) Citizens’ Initiative.
“We have started this process of collecting signatures to reclaim the powers we have delegated to our leaders. The exercise, which is ongoing, is to express the people's displeasure with Ruto and the series of punitive, unfair and unjust taxes he has decided to impose on the people without their consent,” Mr Odinga said.
He said the exercise was part of the opposition’s campaign of resistance, civil disobedience and civic action to force President Ruto and his regime to respect and listen to the people.
The opposition leader explained that the Finance Act, 2023 has clearly exposed the fact that some leaders have decided to take instructions from the Executive, and the Executive has decided to pursue its own wishes regardless of what the people feel or say.
“Both the Legislature and the Executive have ganged up against the people and the people have been left to fend for themselves. In return, the people have rightly decided to gang up against the Executive and the Legislature. The people decided to invoke Article 1 of the Constitution,” he said.
Mr Odinga pointed out that the process they were engaged in was about the deliberate policy decisions of the Kenya Kwanza regime to make life unbearable for the vast majority of Kenyans, despite consistent appeals by Kenyans to the regime to take steps to alleviate their burdens.
“The digital platform we unveil today (yesterday) complements all other efforts and platforms, including civil disobedience, tax boycott and defiance, which are meant to compel the regime to repeal the Finance Act and take deliberate steps to reduce the cost of living.
“These actions are also meant to force the regime to address all the weighty issues we have been pushing for, including a non-partisan reconstitution of the IEBC, an audit of the 2022 elections and an end to the invasion and compromise of parties and MPs,” Mr Odinga stated.
Flanked by other coalition luminaries, including Martha Karua , Kalonzo Musyoka , Wycliffe Oparanya, Eugene Wamalwa, Mwangi Wa Iria, Jeremiah Kioni and Opiyo Wandayi, among others, Mr Odinga lashed out at the government for questioning the legality of the process.
“We are aware that Kenya Kwanza has questioned where we are taking the signatures and the legality of the exercise. We don't expect them to understand. They don't understand the power of the people right now, but in time they will,” he said.
He announced that they will converge again today at the historic Kamukunji grounds where they will begin their anti-government demonstrations as similar events take place simultaneously across the country.
“As the people demonstrated last week, Kamukunji will be anywhere and everywhere in the country where Kenyans gather in the name of justice and prosperity.”
Mr Musyoka stressed the need for unity. “We must unite and be one people irrespective of our political affiliations because every Kenyan is hurting. Even our police are hurting and they must stop using force against innocent protesters and join us in the peaceful march,” said Mr Musyoka.
Even as Azimio begins the protests, Kenyans have been advised to be extra cautious today as security agencies brace for two other nationwide protests.
The protests, which are feared to cause major disruptions in the transport sector, include those by public service vehicles, the taxi association and bodabodas.
The taxi association will take to the streets to protest against rising fuel prices and unfair wage rates by digital transport companies.
The 21-day strike notice issued by the matatu sector will also expire today (July 12, 2023), culminating in demonstrations by PSV drivers, long-distance drivers and bodaboda riders. The protest is aimed at getting the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to suspend the mandatory retesting of drivers.
The mandatory retest, according to the NTSA, targeted commercial and public service vehicles and is a prerequisite for renewing driving licences and is aimed at reducing road accidents and fatalities.
It required drivers to pay a retest fee of Sh1,050, which has been contested by operators who feel they are already burdened by low salaries.
Reported by Justus Ochieng, Mercy Chelang’at and Steve Otieno
