The Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition has vowed to resume its nationwide anti-government protests for three consecutive days next week aimed at “stripping President William Ruto and his government of legitimacy”.
But President Ruto warned he would not allow the anarchy being propagated by the opposition and vowed to maintain peace and order in the country.
The President said he would not allow another Kenyan to die in the wave of violence that has often marred the protests, with six people reportedly killed in last Friday’s Saba Saba protests.
“No child is born to throw stones and attend maandamano (demonstrations) every day. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will have peace, they had their protests on Friday and six people died. Please, this will stop,” the President said.
Instead of using the youth to incite violence, Dr Ruto urged the opposition to give him enough time to implement his development agenda that will benefit millions of Kenyans.
“Give the youth and the people of Kenya a break. We have plans and we will implement them. I know you people, I know your plans and you will fail as you always do,” he added.
Speaking during a roadside rally in Naivasha, Nakuru county President Ruto added that the opposition was using protests to disrupt economic activities and blackmail the government.
The head of state added that using extrajudicial and extra-constitutional means to seek power is unacceptable and urged Odinga to wait for the next elections in 2027.
He also declared that there will be no handshake, referring to the previous political agreement between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga that he believes has harmed Kenya.
“I want to say that there will be no protests in Kenya again. The one they are planning for on Wednesday will not happen,” he said.
Stop your threats
Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot has now advised the president not to engage in threats, arguing that he also rebelled against the former president Uhuru Kenyatta for years.
He added that Kenyans were protesting against his lies and unfulfilled promises.
“Prezzo William Ruto, wachana na vitisho. Let me tell you this: This is a shocking statement from you.
You rebelled against former president Uhuru and radicalised Kenya’s youth as hustlers against the fake dynasties for 5 years with lies.
Now they are protesting against your lies and unfulfilled promises, and you are blaming Uhuru. Terrible,” he wrote on Twitter.
Prezzo @WilliamsRuto, wachana na vitisho. Let me tell you this:
This is a shocking statement from you. You rebelled against former president Uhuru and radicalised Kenya' s youth as hustlers against the fake dynasties for 5 years with lies. Now they are protesting against your… pic.twitter.com/1ZQq6YqtDQ— Dr. Ekuru Aukot (@EAukot) July 15, 2023
Unfulfilled promises
Speaking on Tuesday, Aukot said during campaigns, Kenya Kwanza gave timelines of how long it would take them to fix the situation in the country, but now they are changing the timelines.
The lawyer said Ruto’s administration is pretending to be new in government, which is not the case.
“We heard about deadlines, by January we’ll do this, by six months we’ll do this. Now, timelines are shifting, meaning, in my honest opinion Kenya Kwanza did not have a plan at all. The reason I’m saying that is because now they are pretending they are newcomers in government. They are not,” Aukot said.
He insisted that Ruto has served in many different capacities in the country before, and should stop pretending that he does not know what the problem with the country is.
The former presidential aspirant said the fact that it is the 21st Century and people are still talking about lack of food means the country’s political leadership has been a con.
“President William Ruto was deputy president for 10 years. He’s been a Cabinet minister, he’s been an MP for many years. You cannot carry yourself as if you don’t know what the problem is in this country.”
