Lobby group urges youth to keep off Raila's protest calls
National
By
Jenipher Wachie
| Dec 06, 2022
A lobby group, youth for Kenya Kwanza has accused Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga of nepotism and hypocrisy.
In a press conference on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, the group chairman Samuel Masaki says the former prime minister presents himself as a democrat when most of his relatives have positions in top government offices.
"He masquerades Kenya's political space as a liberator and a democrat while he is the worst nepotist ever. As we speak, his brother is a Senator, his sister a Woman Representative, his daughter an EALA MP and his niece an MCA. What form of a democrat is he, yet every opportunity he gets is for himself and his family? Mr Odinga, you cannot appoint your kinsmen to posh positions and then go ahead to use unemployed Youth on the streets to satisfy your thirst for power," Masaki's statement reads.
The group also says Odinga's intention of calling the meeting has a hidden agenda.
"We must tell Kenyans the truth, that the intention by Azimio to call these 'meetings' are not genuine but carries a hidden agenda. Kenyans are being treated to another episode of political threats, blackmail and extortionist politics geared towards satisfying one individual greed for power in the name of Raila Odinga," he adds.
"We remind Kenyans that, since Raila Odinga made a foray into Kenya's political landscape he has always traded with violence, blackmail and threats to satisfy his greed for political power; from 1982 attempted coup, 1994 coup in Ford-Kenya, 2007 post elections violence,2015/16 teargas Mondays and 2017 post elections violence," he said.
The statement by the youth for Kenya Kwanza comes days after Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga asked his supporters to convene at Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi on December 7 and December 12.
Odinga said the gatherings will enable him to chart a way forward on how to keep President William Ruto's government in check.
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.
President William Ruto urged the opposition to refrain from public protests as a way of expressing their displeasure with the government.