Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga has broken his silence on the deployment of the military across the country and the chaos that was witnessed this week as #RejectFinanceBill2024 took centre stage.
The opposition chief noted that rogue police officers and thugs who unleashed terror on peaceful demonstrators, leading to many deaths and injuries should be held accountable.
"We lost so many young promising Kenyans unnecessarily in the last one week, because of the policemen who have been instructed to shoot to kill.
“A police officers who goes rogue and begins to shoot aimlessly is a criminal who should be dealt with according to the law," Raila noted.
Raila speaks on the deployment of military across Kenya
The former Prime Minister who was speaking during the burial of Fred Omondi in Siaya County, castigated the judiciary for allowing the Kenya Kwanza administration to deploy the military across the 47 countries.
Raila noted that this is a misuse of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) whose primary responsibility is to protect the country from external aggression.
He added that civilian authorities had failed securing Kenyans and their property.
“The civilian forces have failed to deal with the people. The military is not supposed to be on the streets.
“The Army is there to defend the country and not to deal with internal strife,” Raila stated.
He shared that he is closely following the unfolding situation in the country and how the government treats protesters and will announce the way forward in the coming days.
"We are going to talk about the details of these engagements in the coming weeks but we want to say our people should continue to remain firm," the Azimio leader stated.
Azimio leader challenges authorities on claims of hired goons
According to Raila, Kenya is at a crossroads today and the time has come for its citizens to come together and speak on the Kenya they want.
A tough-talking Raila challenged authorities to substantiate claims of goons hijacking the demos by telling the public who the goons are and who hired them.
“We are being told about good who were hired. Who are these goons and who hired them. Tell us.”
“The time has now come for Kenyan people to come together and talk as one people and talk about the Kenya we want.” Slammed the Azimio leader.
He urged Kenyans to stay firm as God is on their side.