Azimio la Umoja coalition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday urged the government to launch an immediate investigation into the property destruction and robbery incidents that occurred during the Tuesday, July 2, protests.
In a press conference, the former Prime Minister accused President William Ruto’s administration of being reluctant to deal with the suspects who caused havoc on Tuesday.
Odinga stated that the government has enough information about the current protestors’ sponsors but chose not to take action against them.
According to him, the protests witnessed on Tuesday which involved vandalism and robbery were different from what was witnessed at the start of the protests when Gen Zs were in complete control.
While expressing his stance on the chaotic protests, Raila warned the perpetrators to halt their activities or face dire consequences.
“For thugs to hijack the protests and turn them into mayhem against innocent Kenyans amounts to a double betrayal of the youth. The bad manners have to be stopped,” Raila declared.
“People who are not the Gen Z that started the initial protests hijacked it, looted businesses, attacked innocent Kenyans and destroyed critical infrastructure.”
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader went ahead to express empathy for the families that suffered the brunt of yesterday’s chaotic demonstrations.
He further condemned police brutality and urged security officers manning protests to exercise civility and accountability in handling protestors.
“Innocent people who’ve seen their business premises broken into, their products looted and who now face the reality of being worse off than before the protests,” Raila stated.
“In the same breath, we condemn the scenes people witnessed. We saw on our television and experienced in their neighbourhood across the country, in the hands of criminals posing as protesters.”
