According to ODM Party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna on Thursday, the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party will no longer provide the police with warnings of its biweekly anti-government marches.
On Mondays and Thursdays, the opposition party has been protesting what it claims is the inability of President William Ruto’s administration to cut living expenses and favoritism in State posts, among other issues.
Raila Odinga’s faction was previously instructed by Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome to send notifications before to the scheduled demonstrations, but the coalition indicated it will no longer do so because they have proven unsuccessful.
According to Sifuna, police have been violently dispersing protests rather than securing the crowd.
“We won’t be sending out notices anymore. Let’s make use of our Article 37 rights. We have realized that police notices are invitations for them to use violence against us, thus protests will emerge spontaneously wherever, anytime, without their knowledge, he told Citizen TV.
Every police station in Nairobi has received notice of the protests, which is intended to ask them to provide security and protect the demonstrators. Yet, we have come to understand that no matter how strictly we adhere to the law, they will nonetheless deem our protests to be unlawful.
Sifuna asserted that the last two demonstrations’ violence and property damage were caused by the police, and that in order for protestors to remain peaceful, the orderly forces must leave the streets.
“If it weren’t for the police, these protests would have been calm. “Take police action out of these situations and watch our people,” the Nairobi senator remarked.
After Interior Ministry Secretary Kithure Kindiki issued a warning that violent protests would not be tolerated anywhere in Kenya, he made his remarks a short time later.
In a statement to newsrooms on Wednesday, Prof. Kindiki said, “With or without warning, demonstrations and protests of any form which injure people, security officials, businesses, and property will be prevented at all costs.”
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