Raila’s Threat To Resume Street Demonstrations Is An Exercise In Futility
The Mt Kenya Times 
Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- It is widely believed he had already been bought. Maybe, he was not paid the whole amount and the government is reluctant to pay the balance. He must find a way of forcing the state to meet full part of the bargain. Street demonstrations are the only viable option.
- Besides housing levy, Raila listed high cost of living. We know that President Ruto have made great strides to address this challenge.
- It is worth nothing that the cost of living started skyrocketing when Raila was a co-principal in the ‘handshake’ government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta. A packet of 2kg Unga retailed at Sh230. Today, the prices have dropped to Sh130 and Sh150. The cost of fuel and electricity was also all time high.
In his New Message to Kenyans, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga threatened to organize a new wave of street demonstrations.
Fellow Kenyans, I want you to prepare for the protests which will commence early this month of January.
Raila, who was addressing his supporters in his home turf of Nyanza, listed the housing levy being deducted from salaried employees.
We have been telling Hon Ruto to scrap this tax but he has failed to heed our call.
This is an illegal tax. How? I disagree. The due process was followed to the letter and spirit. A Bill seeking to establish the Affordable Housing Act had been presented to parliament. The members debated and overwhelmingly adopted it.
A friend of mine told me. Raila’s renewed call for mass action reeks of hypocrisy and insincerity.
In run-up to 2022 general elections, the proposal to deduct a housing levy of 1.5 percent from salaried workers was one of the key highlights of Raila’s manifesto.
So, Raila is not doing this for the sake of ‘Wanjiku’.
It is widely believed he had already been bought. Maybe, he was not paid the whole amount and the government is reluctant to pay the balance. He must find a way of forcing the state to meet full part of the bargain. Street demonstrations are the only viable option.
Besides housing levy, Raila listed high cost of living. We know that President Ruto have made great strides to address this challenge.
It is worth nothing that the cost of living started skyrocketing when Raila was a co-principal in the ‘handshake’ government led by President Uhuru Kenyatta. A packet of 2kg Unga retailed at Sh230. Today, the prices have dropped to Sh130 and Sh150. The cost of fuel and electricity was also all time high.
So, Raila should be the last person to point accusing finger at President Ruto.
During the Raila-led demonstrations, I wrote several articles meant to oppose the protests. This is because they always turned bloody, chaotic and destructive. This violated Article 37 of the Constitution.
At some point, Raila realized that many of his supporters had gotten fatigued. They no longer saw the value of these demonstrations.
Some argued that Raila was using them to pursue his selfish and personal interests. So, they started to keep off. Does he expect them to heed his call this time? I highly doubt.
This is the article I wrote at the time. Left with no option, Raila had ceded the ground and agreed to read the script of President William Ruto.
In a live broadcast speech, Dr Ruto stated.
I have been listening to the demands raised by my brother Raila Odinga and his brigade which were at the core of ongoing streets demonstrations.
As we know, these demonstrations always resulted in chaos, bloody confrontations, destruction of properties and badly hurting businesses and our economy.
This is contrary to the assurances by the Azimio that they would be peaceful and the protesters would be unarmed.
As the president, I have a duty to protect the lives of Kenyans and their properties in accordance with the oath of office.
So I will not allow these protests to continue because they totally violate the spirit and letter of Article 37 of the constitution.
Ruto would not perse blame Raila. He would mainly train his guns on criminal elements who were taking advantage of the demonstrations to commit these atrocities.
Going forward, I ask my brother Raila to call off the mass action and give dialogue a chance.
As a democrat and a strong believer in rule of law and the constitution, my position is that the issues that Raila/Azimio have raised can and should be addressed through a bipartisan parliamentary process.
My wish is to ensure we have created robust, strong democratic institutions that truly represent the will and aspirations of the Kenyan people.
This can happen if we stick to the parameters of law.
Of the demands raised by Raila, Ruto only zero in on the two: The high cost of living and a review of the composition of the seven-member panel set to recruit the new IEBC commissioners.
Just one hour after the President addressed the nation, Raila convened a press conference.
He said he agreed with Ruto that a bipartisan process through parliament is the way to go.
In view of this positive gesture, I have immediately called off the demonstrations.
As Azimio, we shall pick our team which will participate in these negotiations.
For President Ruto, he moved with speed to set up his team.
At a meeting he convened and chaired at State House Nairobi, he asked the Kenya Kwanza parliamentary leadership led by the majority leader Kimani Ichungwah to set this process in motion.
After the meeting, Ichungwah stated. We have our team ready.
We are now waiting the other side to unveil their team.
As a law-making body, the house will expeditiously deal with this matter.
Two days later, Raila stepped out and changed the goal post.
While flanked by the top leaders of Azimio, he rooted for process akin to 2008 Peace Accord.
We want the membership of the bipartisan process to be expanded to include to non-parliamentarians.
Parliament will have to wait for the final resolutions. Raila fell short of saying they will expect the house to adopt these proposals without any alterations.
As we recall, the sharing of the government on 50-50 basis was one of Raila’s key demands during the negotiations that culminated to the formation of the grand coalition government in 2008.
He had his way and he became the Prime Minister and a core-principal alongside President Mwai Kibaki.
President Ruto is privy to this because he was one of the negotiators appointed by him in the mediation talks chaired by former UN sec-gen Koffi Annan.
This time, Raila says he is not in interested in ‘nusu mkate’. Is he playing games? Can we trust him?
Going by past experiences, his endgame is to once again join the government through the back door and sit on the high table where the national cake is being shared.
In his interpretation, it seems leadership is about eating.
So he does not want to be confined to the kitchen. He want to occupy one of the seats in the high table.
Many believe this why he becomes mute when he gets there.
In the estate, I heard a group of people saying this. Raila’s change of mind was prompted by mounting pressure from hardliners in his Azimio camp.
The reasoning was that they would be left in cold if Raila agree with the terms set by the President Ruto.
Besides, it is clear that Raila demonstrations are mainly attended by members of your community.
This does not augur well. The question is. Kenya has 45 tribes. How come it is only one tribe fighting Ruto?
Those around you have failed to mobilize their communities, yet they are inciting you to resume demos.
Finally, the international community has deserted you. This is unlike when you protested the loss of the previous elections.
They believe that the outcome of August 9, 2022 presidential election reflected the popular will of the people of Kenya.
As such, the results announced by the IEBC chairman in which he declared Dr William Ruto as the President-elect were credible and verifiable.
Dr Ruto’s victory was also upheld by the Supreme Court of Kenya.
The American government and Africa Union (AU) have been leading in calling on Raila to accept defeat and move on.
If you want to know this, read the text of their statements.
The US and AU would focus on condemning acts of lawlessness that had resulted to deaths, attacks on journalists and innocent Kenyans and destruction of properties.
In view of this, Raila should call off these demonstrations and give dialogue a chance.
Media reports had earlier indicated that America had a hand in the termination of the contract of Raila Odinga as the AU High Representative for the Infrastructure Development.
This is after he failed to heed their call to shun demos. US is a leading financier of AU work.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political analyst based in Nairobi
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER July 28, 2026
- The DP gamble that could cost Ruto everything
- Just war theory and Kenya’s political journey: When the state meets the street
- Supreme Court tax ruling tests Kenya’s constitutional order
- The rotten diaper of tumbocracy in Kenya
About the Author
