Azimio leadership on Sunday, April 30, announced that the coalition would continue with planned demonstrations scheduled for Tuesday, May 2, unless the government met their demand.
In a statement signed by Azimio Leader Raila Odinga, the coalition revealed that during the demonstrations slated to take place in Nairobi, its principals will march to the Office of the President to deliver a petition over the high cost of living.
The coalition further noted that it will lead its supporters to deliver petitions to Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the National Treasury, and Public Service Commission (PSC).
“The Constitution of Kenya, which in Article 37 provides that 'Every person has the right to assemble, demonstrate, to picket, and to present petitions to public authorities' has not been suspended.
“We will exercise our right to assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions on Tuesday, May 2, as earlier announced, dark threats notwithstanding,” the statement read in part.
On why the coalition settled on Ruto’s office in the Central Business District, the statement explained, “We will be taking a petition to prove that the cost of food, fuel, electricity and fees remain unacceptably high.”
“We will further petition the Office of the President to desist from invading and destroying rival political parties as was attempted on Jubilee headquarters and through the auction of MPs in Parliament,” Raila stated.
After delivering a petition to the Office of the President, Azimio will guide supporters to IEBC to present a petition to the IEBC showing that the election results were doctored and demand an audit of the servers.
“We shall also petition IEBC against the sacking of the four commissioners because it presents a dangerous precedent in which in all future elections, all commissioners will be required to agree with the chairperson of IEBC, effectively making the election a one-person show,” the coalition added.
A similar petition will also be taken to the Treasury offices along Harambee Avenue to petition for the immediate release of all funds owed to counties and the timely payment of salaries to all civil servants.
Lastly, the Azimio brigade will visit PSC offices to demand fair employment opportunities for all Kenyans.
“We will demand that appointments to public offices be made purely on the basis of merit and inclusivity, not tribe as is presently the case. We cannot have a country of close to 50 tribes where appointments go only to members of one tribe,” Raila complained in the statement.
The statement by Raila was made a few minutes after his Azimio co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka gave a condition for calling off the demonstrations.
Kalonzo, while speaking at a Sunday Service at Cathedral of Praise Ministries at Imara Daima, indicated that the reason Azimio resorted to returning to the streets after a one-month hiatus was Kenya Kwanza’s decision to include Eldas Member of Parliament Adan Keynan in the bipartisan talks committee.
“We are open to dialogue and this is my advice to Ruto, my younger brother, if he wants us to call off the demonstrations. You have already announced you can drop Keynan from the bipartisan committee without pressuring us to drop David Pkosing (Pokot South MP).
“My advice to you is to get the bipartisan co-chairs Otiende Omollo (Rarieda MP) and George Murugara (Tharaka MP) to jointly announce the dropping of Keynan and we will review our position,” Kalonzo revealed.
