According to political analysts, the recent onslaught by the Azimio la Umoja party leader Raila Odinga on President William Ruto’s government could deter the latter's ambitions.
Odinga, who jetted back into the country on Monday, January 23, laid out a plethora of demands to the government, a move political analysts indicated could be consequential.
In his demands, the opposition leader called on Kenyans to resist and demand the removal of the punitive taxes that he blamed for the rising costs of basic products and services.
Apart from Mutahi Ngunyi, a renowned political scientist, Kenyans.co.ke talked to several political analysts to help unpack the implications of the Kamukunji rally for President Ruto.
Ngunyi particularly warned Ruto against fighting Raila indicating that the Azimio leader had nothing to lose compared to the President who has a country to run.
"Hustlers are like a pendulum. They will swing to the side that is anti-authority. Do not take the Kamukunji casually. Revolutions start in small instalments: Little by Little. Then they acquire a life of their own,” Ngunyi warned.
His view was supported by Dr Jane Thuo, a political analyst who argued that Odinga’s demands resonated with the masses and that pressure was on Ruto’s government to deliver to Kenyans.
“Raila will succeed because the public expectations are very high and the government appears unable to meet them while the cost of living continues to hit hard on ordinary Kenyans,” Thuo told Kenyans.co.ke.
However, political commentator, Barrack Muluka, took issue with the timing of Raila Odinga's rally at a time when parents are grappling with school resumption for their children.
"The economy is just recovering from the shocks of Covid-19 at the same time schools are reopening on a new school calendar, these demands that border around insurgency would lead to instability in the country," Muluka warned in an interview with Kenyans.co.ke.
Javas Bigambo, a governance expert, on the other hand, expressed his concern with Odinga's seeming departure from his long-standing principles as a constitutional crusader.
"Odinga's actions depart from the sanctity of constitutionalism and border on mere political rhetoric, the 2010 constitution stipulates that a government cannot be formed in any other way except through elections overseen by a constitutional body(IEBC)," he revealed to Kenyans.co.ke.
Bigambo further pointed out that Odinga was not flanked by any serious lawyer in his Kamukunji address.
"His allies like Siaya Governor James Orengo and Ruaraka MP T.J. Kajwang were not present and that event can only be categorised as a welcoming party for the Azimio leader," he concluded.
During his address to supporters after jetting back from South Africa, Odinga was flanked by his running mate in the 2022 elections, Martha Karua, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, and former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya.
The leaders demanded that the entire infrastructure and the records of the 2022 elections at the IEBC be made public and audited by an impartial body.
He would get an instant rebuttal from President Ruto, who cautioned that he would not entertain the idea of a handshake, similar to the famous 2018 handshake between former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
