Uhuru Kenyatta: I am not funding Azimio protests
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga in this file photo during the inaugural Azimio la Umoja Coalition Party Council meeting at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi.
Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta has denied claims that he is funding opposition protests, saying that even though he remains chairman of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition council, his role has nothing to do with the daily operations of the party.
Instead, he revealed, he is waiting for the Azimio leadership to settle on his successor to replace him as he is now not in active in politics but pushing for peace in the region as a Pan-Africanist.
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“I am not funding Azimio demonstrations,” said the former president in an interview with the Nation in Nairobi on Monday.
“What would be my reason to fund the protests? Raila Odinga is my party leader and I supported him in the 2022 General Election, should my relationship with him stop because he is leading the protests?”
Mr Kenyatta admitted that he has discussed with Mr Odinga regarding the protests, but was quick to clarify that the talks have centred only on values rather than funding.
“It is his opinion that he is defending what the people of Kenya want,” he said. “I am not an active politician; they are the ones who decide.”
Recalling that Mr Odinga even called for protests during his regime, and even held a mock swearing-in as the people’s president just metres from State House, the former President wondered why the Kenya Kwanza administration, led by President William Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua, has sustained a string of attacks against him and his family.
He added that he is happy in retirement but the new administration appears hell-bent on frustrating him.
President Ruto, Mr Gachagua, and several members of the Cabinet and Kenya Kwanza legislators have numerously alleged that Mr Kenyatta is sponsoring Mr Odinga’s maandamano, and vowed to neuter him.
In both Parliamentary Group meetings at State House and public engagements, the Kenya Kwanza leaders have vowed to teach Uhuru a lesson if he refuses to disassociate with Raila.
Recently, President Ruto vowed to bundle together Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga and send them to political oblivion in order to bring an end to the countrywide protests.
Although none of the Kenya Kwanza leaders have directly linked Mr Kenyatta with the claims, they say there appears to an external hand helping in sustaining the protests.
