President William Ruto on Sunday, December 4, promised to provide Raila Odinga with enough security during his Kamukunji meeting.
Ruto who was speaking during an interdenominational church service at the University of Embu said that the security will help protect the lives and property of Kenyans.
“I have asked Interior CS Prof Kithure Kindiki to ask Azimio to give him their schedule of demonstrations so that we provide enough security to avoid the destruction of people’s property,” Ruto said.
But on Monday, December 5, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party presidential candidate Raila Odinga said he does not need President Ruto’s security.
Raila said the nationwide public consultative forums set to start on Wednesday, December 7, at Kamukunji Grounds, Nairobi, are not demonstrations as has been interpreted by some Kenyans.
While assuring the state that the meeting will be peaceful, Raila urged the government not to bring thugs and hooligans to the meeting.
“The meeting at Kamukunji is a peaceful consultative meeting, it is not a demonstration. We are not going to engage in any act of thuggery or hooliganism, no property will be destroyed,” Raila said.
The former Prime Minister who was speaking during a press briefing at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation said the opposition will use the forums to share views on the state of affairs in the country.
“We urge the government not to use this as an excuse to bring thugs there to try and disrupt this function,” Raila added.
Raila has listed six key issues he said he will engage the public on at the Kamukunji rally and the parallel Jamhuri Day celebrations at the same venue on December 12.
He cited the high cost of living, unfair treatment of the four electoral agency commissioners, and the arbitrary sacking of civil servants as part of the agenda for the meet-the-people tour.
Other major concerns include failure to provide interest-free loans as promised during campaigns, ethnic imbalance in state jobs, and importation of genetically modified (GM) maize.
