Nairobi City Lawyer Willis Otieno has called for the resignation of President William Ruto during today’s State of the Nation Address in Parliament.
Speaking during a panel discussion on Citizen TV on Thursday, November 21, the lawyer claimed that many Kenyans were suffering in silence as a result of several unresolved issues including a malfunctioning health system.
He reiterated that Kenyans were unable to access affordable healthcare services due to the poor implementation of the Social Health Authority (SHA) which he claimed was worse than the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
According to him, the decision by President Ruto’s administration to allow the Indian conglomerate, Adani Group, to take over critical state infrastructure such as the country’s main airport, was a huge failure on the part of the government.
“William Ruto has attempted to bring in the Adani group into Kenya but the company’s owner has now been indicted by a United States court as somebody who was engaging in acts of corruption. There is a warrant of arrest issued against Adani,” claimed lawyer Willis.
Ruto was further accused of human rights violations by allegedly allowing the death of at least 67 youthful protesters during the anti-government protests that rocked the country in June and July this year.
The Safina Party principal noted that the government's failure to take action against police officers who were involved in the killing of the protesters was enough reason to warrant the resignation of the President.
“Until today, we have not seen accountability, no single officer has been arraigned in court to answer for the deaths of these young people,” stated Otieno.
He also took a swipe at the government for failing to resolve the surging cases of abductions and forced disappearances in the country. According to the lawyer, despite calls by human rights groups for the government's intervention, no action had been taken.
While demanding Ruto's resignation, Otieno also accused the Kenya Kwanza administration of reportedly utilising the taxpayer's money to fund the United Nations-led Haiti peacekeeping mission.
"We did not have any interest in Haiti, even as it is today, there is no evidence that we trade between Kenya and Haiti, why should we send our police officers and spend our own money on a Haiti mission?" the city lawyer probed.
The close ties between the Executive and the Legislature were also highlighted as a critical issue affecting the country. According to Otieno, several parliamentarians had declined to address the issues raised by Kenyans and had instead chosen to favour the Executive.
"When you are sitting as a parliament, you are not sitting as a political party, you are sitting as a sovereign group that is the face of representation, oversight and legislation," the lawyer explained.
