Raila Odinga, Azimio Party leader, boarded a public transport vehicle (Matatu) to work on Monday morning.
“Embracing the convenience and camaraderie of public transport heading to work this morning,” Raila captioned a video on his social media.
While in the matatu travelling along the Ngong-Nairobi route, a few passengers cried to Raila about the high cost of living. The tout sought an audience with him and mentioned the increasing cost of fuel. The passengers went ahead to mention that the country is not headed in the right direction.
“Baba you must not stop. Continue pressing on until such a time when the traffic police shall have stopped taking bribes and fuel prices significantly reduced,” the tout urged Raila
Reason for Raila Odinga boarding a matatu
His boarding the matatu was in line with the declaration he made to Kenyans on tax boycotts. He urged Kenyans on June 27th, to start carpooling. Carpooling is meant to reduce the amount of fuel being purchased and by extension, reduce the amount of revenue the government can collect. This is due to the increased VAT on fuel proposed by the Finance Act 2023.
” Let us deny Ruto the fuel tax by limiting consumption of fuel and petrol. One way to do this is to carpool… cut down on non-essential travel and walk instead of driving whenever possible,” He said in a rally.
Raila ditched his high-end vehicle and was seen walking with his bodyguard to the bus stop. He interacted with a few people, bought a newspaper and then boarded the matatu.
ODM Deputy Party leader, Wycliffe Oparanya joined Raila in the matatu heading for work as a push for the tax boycotts.
In addition to this, Raila shared moments with the passengers who cheered and expressed excitement to see him. They took photos and appreciated him for being on the ground with the common ‘mwananchi.’
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