NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 25 – Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Leader Raila Odinga has made an appearance in public meetings days after he took a break to nurse a flu that curtailed his engagements.
Odinga was spotted in an interview with local and International Media houses on the crisis in the nation.
In a series of tweets posted by the Azimio La Umoja presidential taskforce spokesperson Makau Mutua, Odinga accused the Kenya Kwanza Alliance of sabotaging talks to end the stalemate between the two opposing sides.
“We’ve always been open to dialogue,” says @RailaOdinga. He adds, “but we don’t want nusu mkate.” However, “the other side “absconded and went away,” the tweet read.
The Former Prime Minister last week missed the three day anti-government protests for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as he was battling a flu.
On Monday, the coalition announced that the planned protests will not take place, but urged supporters to hold solidarity parades and vigils for victims of last week’s police brutality.
“We have today (Monday) made a decision that on Wednesday, 26th July 2023, we will hold a different kind of protest. The peaceful protests will take the form of solidarity parades and vigil for victims of police brutality in various locations in all parts of the country,” Azimio leader Raila Odinga tweeted.
Azimio claimed more than 50 people were killed by police during the three-day protests against the high cost of living.
The protests, outlawed by the government, were held on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but it was only more active on the first day when demonstrators engaged police in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kisii, Nakuru among other towns.
While Azimio accuses police of killing protesters arbitrarily while suppressing the demonstrations, the government insists police acted professionally.
On Monday, the Odinga-led coalition asked religious leaders to dedicate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for prayers in remembrance of the victims of police brutality during the opposition demonstrations.
The coalition lamented that the police brutality meted on them during the protests has reached unprecedented levels.
“Some have been shot in the back as they were fleeing or in a position of surrender. The shots have been aimed at the vital organs and delicate parts of the victims like the abdomen, the spine, the chest and the head,” it said.
