Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna on Thursday, July 13, hinted that Azimio la Umoja protests will be carried out for three days every week beginning Monday.
Speaking during a talk show, Sifuna noted that plans were in high gear to hold the demonstrations for three days in a row; Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.
He added that the mass action would continue until President William Ruto heeds to the opposition's demands and repeals the Finance Act 2023, a move he termed as non-negotiable.
"From next week, there will be three days straight of maandamano; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, until Ruto understands that people are suffering and repeals this law the same way he imposed it upon them," Sifuna stated.
He added that the government constantly ignored the plight of many Kenyans who he insisted cannot afford basic goods due to the high cost of living.
The Nairobi Senator, therefore, advised President Ruto to lower the cost of living or risk seeing Kenyans unite against his regime.
"I'm telling the government to stop talking and start arresting. What the government needs to know is that Kenyans are angry at them. If Ruto had listened to Kenyans, the chaos would not have happened."
"This government is better off when known people are leading the demonstrations as opposed to Kenyans taking the matter upon themselves because there will be no one to call to the table," he added.
Explaining the motive for the weekly protests, Sifuna explained that the Azimio coalition had adopted a new strategy of 'shifts' to allow more people to join the mass action.
"We have received communication from some Kenyans who are saying that we scheduled maandamano on a day they were unable to attend. We are introducing shifts so that if you're free on Monday, join us and allow others to demonstrate on Tuesday and the same applies for Wednesday every week."
"The end game is that we have used all the language we know, tried persuasion, and mediation by committing ourselves to dialogue with the government but they refused to listen. They introduced a bill which the majority of Kenyans opposed but they went ahead and passed it. Therefore, what we are saying is that until you listen to the people, we will soldier on," he asserted.
Sifuna's statement comes as Azimio leader Raila Odinga vowed to lead a third wave of protests and communicate the next course of action after he called off the Kamukunji rally.
According to Raila, he acted on reports of a planned attack at the rally. In his speech, he accused the Kenya Kwanza regime of orchestrating the chaos by allegedly hiring goons to disrupt the mass action.
