Raila Odinga: Prepare for Kamukunji rallies on December 7 and 12

Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga. [File, Standard]

Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga has asked his supporters to convene at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi on December 7 and December 12.

Odinga says the gatherings will enable him to chart a way forward on how to keep President William Ruto's government in check.

His remarks come a few hours after President Ruto suspended four IEBC commissioners to pave way for investigations into their August 9, 2022 election conduct.

A nine-member team, led by Justice Aggrey Muchelule, has been assembled to probe the accused.

Presidential candidate in the August polls, Raila Odinga, reads malice in the manner in which commissioners Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang'aya are being treated by the current administration.

Taking to his Twitter page on Friday, December 2, Odinga said: "We wish to remind [President] Ruto that this country had a system like the one he is trying to reinvent. We fought that system. We brought down that system. We will do so to the one he is inventing now. We will bring it down. Let us all stand up for our country before it is too late."

The Azimio leader accuses President Ruto of pocketing the Judiciary, the last avenue of hope for Kenyans.

"Events lately show that the Judiciary has been captured. The criminal justice system is collapsing. That is why cases are rapidly being dropped, criminals are being celebrated and turned into prosecution witnesses," said Odinga.

In efforts to ensure he and his supporters have aligned on the quest for progressive reforms, Odinga said he'll convene consultative gatherings at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi on December 7 and December 12, 2022.

"On December 7, at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi, we'll launch public consultations with the people of Kenya to brainstorm on the direction the country is taking. We will return to the same venue on December 12 to continue with these consultations on the state of our nation," said the ODM chief.

His remarks come on the back of President Ruto's statement, urging the opposition to refrain from public protests as a way of expressing their displeasure with the government.

On Friday, December 2, Ruto appointed Justice Aggrey Muchelule to chair a nine-member team that will investigate suspended IEBC commissioners Cherera, Masit, Wanderi and Nyang'aya.

Members of the tribunal are Carolyne Kamende Daudi, Mathew Njaramba Nyabena and Col. (Retired) Saeed Khamis.

The joint secretaries are Kibet Kirui Emmanuel and Irene Tunta Nchoe.

Peter Munge Murage will be the lead counsel, assisted by Zamzam Abdi Abib.

"The mandate of the tribunal shall be to consider the petition for the removal of (1) Juliana Whonge Cherera, (2) Francis Mathenge Wanderi, (3) Irene Cherop Masit and (4) Justus Abonyo Nyang'aya from office as members of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and to inquire into the allegations therein," said President Ruto in the Special Gazette Notice Number 258.

"In the discharge of its functions, the tribunal shall - (a) prepare and submit a report and its recommendations thereon expeditiously; and (b) exercise all the powers conferred upon it by law for the proper execution of its mandate," said the Head of State.

The suspended commissioners disputed the August 9, 2022 presidential election results announced by IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati.

They had alleged that Chebukati altered the results in favour of President William Ruto, and as a result, disenfranchised Ruto's main competitor Raila Odinga.

Ruto has since called the commissioners "rogue" for allegedly attempting to "overturn the will of the Kenyan people".