As Kenyans fear more chaos and carnage come Monday, Azimio leader Raila Odinga is still committed to fighting, resisting and defying President William Ruto’s government.
Raila says that the goal is to lower the cost of living and for them to be able to restore the dignity of the people then the ‘illegitimate’ regime must go!
Odinga has called for protests every Monday and Thursday and accused President William Ruto of stealing last year’s election.
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However, the opposition leader’s calls for mass action date back to 1997 when he started a resistance movement against then-President Daniel Moi.
Raila called for protests among Kenyans to force Moi to accept legal reforms ahead of the 1997 polls.
However, he hit the world with a huge surprise when he reconciled with President Daniel Arap Moi yet the opposition party was fighting to remove the 20-year-old regime.
After the 2007 polls, Raila called for mass action after he disputed the outcome of the presidential election when Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner.
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The 2007 – 2008 protests were Kenya’s most violent one but the violence ended after Raila and the late former President Mwai Kibaki came to an agreement of sharing power by introducing the Grand Coalition government.
This led to Raila striking a deal with Kibaki who was then appointed as the Prime Minister under the Grand Coalition Government.
In addition to this, in the 2013 polls, Raila yet again disputed the outcome and unsuccessfully challenged Uhuru Kenyatta’s win at the Supreme Court.
In 2016, Raila called for mass action to push for electoral reforms at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Raila and his fellow leaders at the time caused major protests across the country as he led marches to take over the headquarters of the IEBC in Nairobi.
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The anti-IEBC protests hit the jackpot as they officially agreed to amendments before the 2017 elections
This caused major reforms including IEBC commissioners leaving and bringing in a new team led by Wafula Chebukati.
The 2017 polls were nothing new as Raila moved to the supreme court to challenge his loss to Uhuru.
The demonstrations continued for a while until they birthed ‘The Handshake’ which was a truce between Raila and Uhuru and again it took a peace agreement between Raila and former President Uhuru Kenyatta for calm to prevail.
Raila is back at it again after losing the 2022 presidential election to President William Ruto and has called for protests every Monday and Thursday, accusing the President of stealing last year’s election, and demanding that the government address the high cost of living.
The ongoing anti-government protests are becoming more and more violent and have also been detrimental to the country’s economy.
Opposition supporters have been holding protests which have resulted in looting and violent clashes with the police
From the police firing tear gas at the opposition leader’s convoy and his supporters, to firing canisters at cars carrying journalists while looters keep taking advantage of the situation.
However, the government has condemned the protests and President William Ruto has accused the opposition of promoting impunity, telling Raila to find other ways to present his concerns.
“I will ensure the country is governed by the rule of law and nothing extra-legal will be part of what we do as a nation,” said Ruto.
Raila remains determined to push Ruto’s government claiming that only through hardship and sacrifice can our cries be heard and insists that the current regime has failed to live up to its promises.
