Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga has urged his supporters to converge at the Nairobi City centre for protests against the government.
In a statement on Sunday, March 19, 2023, the opposition leader insisted that the protests were aimed at reclaiming his victory in the 2022 August polls, among other grievances.
“Let us all converge in the CBD and begin our grand March to State House to reclaim our stolen victory,” Raila said.
Raila’s grounds for demos
Raila has listed six reasons for the demos slated for Monday, including President Ruto’s refusal to allow the audit of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) servers and the high cost of living.
Other reasons include nepotism in the current administration, lack of consultations in the reconstitution of IEBC, broken promises and an illegitimate government.
Already, the government through the National Police Service has declared the protests illegal, claiming that they received the notification for the same.
While addressing the press on Sunday, March 19, 2023, Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei asserted that the protests set for Monday, March 20, 2023, will not be allowed. He insisted that the protests did not meet the threshold under Public Order Act.
“The public order act of 2012 is very clear, if a protest is not within the framework of that order then it is illegal,” he stated.
Bungei noted that two groups had requested to hold peaceful protests on that day but none was granted a permit due to safety reasons.
