NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 1 – Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition’s April 3, 2023, anti-government protests will be their last.
Gachagua underscored that it will not be business as usual thereafter as the government will fully assert its authority.
“I want to cushion those young men who have been taking advantage of the violence to steal property, mug people, loot property that Monday is their last day to do so,” he said.
Azimio Leader Raila Odinga has since declared that the coalition’s Monday protests will be the “mother of all”.
Gachagua stated that the protests were nothing short of “post-election violence” and the government was out to tame it at all costs.
“The government will assert its authority in protecting lives and property and in upholding the rule of law. It cannot happen and it will not happen,” he said.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki had banned the Azimio protests but Odinga has vowed to proceed with the demonstrations that aim to pressure the government to among other things lower the high cost of living.
Whereas Odinga has maintained that their protests are peaceful, they have often degenerated into violence leading to the loss of lives and massive destruction of properties.
The aftermath of the protests has caught the world’s attention with political and church leaders calling for a truce between President William Ruto and Odinga.
President Ruto who appears determined not to engage with Odinga on March 29, 2023, stated that the weekly demonstrations have nothing to do with the cost of living but the outcome of the 2022 presidential election.
“It is an emotive issue, our competitors are trying to take advantage but I think the people of Kenya are a lot wiser,” President Ruto said during an interview on Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW).
