Azimio la Umoja Leader Raila Odinga on Saturday took a swipe at President William Ruto's administration of authorizing the deployment of military to different parts of the country.
Speaking during the burial of comedian Fred Omondi in Siaya County, Raila particularly faulted the judiciary accusing them of allowing the misuse of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
According to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, the military’s main purpose was to protect the country against external aggression and not watch over peaceful protesters.
He further reiterated that the government had failed to address the ongoing mayhem in the country and that deploying the military would not solve the problem at hand.
“The civilian forces have failed to deal with the people. The military is not supposed to be on the streets,” Raila stated.
“The Army is there to defend the country and not to deal with internal strife,” he added.
Raila further expressed regret following the death of several Kenyans during the recent protests that also left some nursing critical gunshot wounds.
The former Prime Minister disclosed he was closely watching the government's behaviour towards the protestors and that he would announce his next course of action in the coming days.
"We are going to talk about the details of these engagements in the coming weeks but we want to say our people should continue to remain firm," the Azimio leader stated.
"We lost so many young promising Kenyans unnecessarily in the last one week, because of the policemen who have been instructed to shoot to kill," he added.
Raila's sentiments come a day after the High Court upheld the government's decision to deploy the military to help police manage protestors.
In his ruling, High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi ordered the government to gazette the deployment within two days.
“The intervention of the military in supporting the National Police is necessary given the need to preserve order, peace, public safety and critical infrastructure,” the judge stated.
“It is hereby directed that the terms of military engagement, and duration of engagement be clearly defined and gazetted within the next two days to alleviate public fear.”
