Tetu MP’s Message To Raila Odinga Ahead Of Maandamano

Tetu MP Wandeto has advised Azimio La Umoja Leader Raila Odinga to call President William Ruto for them to discuss ideas on what to do regarding the cost of living instead of organizing protests that are inconvenient to the citizens.

Speaking at a local news outlet on Tuesday 18th July 2023, the legislature stated that the protests have led to people losing lives in the name of fighting the high cost of living.

The lawmaker gave the former Prime minister an alternative of Texting the President on Whatsapp in case the President doesn't pick up his calls.

“The solution is for Baba to just call off tomorrow's riots. He has the phone number of President William Ruto, if he has five or ten points on how we can fix this cost-of-living issue, let him call the president, I don’t think the president will refuse. If the president doesn’t pick, let him send him a WhatsApp,” Wandeto said.

The protests which are to resume on Wednesday 19th July 2023 and go till Friday 21st July 2023 have gotten the attention of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which last week urged the citizens to avoid protest ways that are leading to loss of lives.

“I don’t see why we require the international community if the issue is the cost of living. Let us call a conference on how to reduce the cost of living… this thing is a political situation; someone has not accepted that the political competition is settled through election but he would prefer to settle it in another way,” the MP said.

"While the Permanent Mission shares the OHCHR's concern for human rights, it is obliged to contest the characterization of recent events in Kenya as 'peaceful protests'. Such a designation belies the widely and credibly documented ground reality," read the statement shared by Foreign Affairs PS Korari Sing'oei.

The Permanent Mission insisted that there is a difference between the right to peaceful assembly and the acts of destructive rioting that occurred in Kenya in the last week.

In the meantime, President William Ruto stated that there will be no more protests in the country saying Azimio’s leader is the cause of the chaos.

The High Court has stated that this week’s protests will not stop in line with an argument that the previous opposition led to protests destroying properties and increasing in number of deaths, and if this week’s protests are not stopped, then the country will be in chaos.