Finance Bill fallout: Street protests loom as Raila jets back

A fresh wave of anti-government protests looms as opposition leader Raila Odinga is expected to jet back into the country from a foreign trip to join his coalition partners for a major rally at Nairobi’s historic Kamukunji grounds on Tuesday.

Insiders told the Sunday Nation that the planned consultative rally could mark the resumption of street protests following the passage of punitive tax measures that will add to the already high cost of living.

The coalition’s urgency to resume anti-government protests was also necessitated by the collapse of the 14-member bipartisan talks that were supposed to address, among other things, the high cost of living.

The talks collapsed after President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza rejected opposition demands to suspend the recruitment of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners for 30 days, as the reconstitution of the electoral body was part of the negotiations following the disputed August 9, 2022 election.

Mr Odinga was on a week-long trip to Poland where he attended a round table with other opposition leaders. The former prime minister was accompanied by Winnie, a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), who is also his last-born daughter.

Read: Finance Bill 2023: Azimio to hold rally next week

Mr Odinga's spokesman Denis Onyango confirmed to the Sunday Nation yesterday that the ODM leader would return on Tuesday.

Ruto warning

President Ruto has since issued a warning to opposition leaders, saying his government will not allow violent protests and destruction of property.

In an interview with France 24 in Paris, President Ruto said the opposition should stop entertaining thoughts of unseating him. He said that although the polls were closely contested, Kenyans chose him to lead the country for the next five years.

“I have no problem with Raila Odinga. I have no problem with him organising protests. There are protests here in Paris. I have just asked Raila and the company not to engage in violence and destruction of property. This is all because we are a democracy,” Dr Ruto said.

Previous street protests — which were called off to make way for the inter-party talks — have always ended in bloody running battles between police and opposition supporters. In most cases, police have used excessive force to disperse demonstrators.

Mr Odinga, in a recent press conference before leaving the country, had threatened unspecified action if Dr Ruto pushed through the 2023 Finance Bill, in which the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition has described several clauses on tax measures as punitive.

He told his supporters to be on standby while declaring that “should Ruto overrun the National Assembly, we will regroup and overrun him in the wider National Assembly of the entire people of Kenya”.

“We appeal to Kenyans to be on standby and to be vigilant. If they ram this down your throats, don't give up, don't surrender. Join us in the next course of action that we will communicate,” Mr Odinga said.

ODM National Chairman John Mbadi and Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi said Mr Odinga will use the Kamukunjirally to tell his supporters the next course of action.

Read: Raila Odinga tells supporters to be ready for protests after failed bipartisan talks

“He will make a pronouncement on the next cause of action that we will take as a coalition,” Mr Mbadi said.
On Thursday, Mr Odinga’s running mate in last year's general election announced that the coalition’s next course of action would be announced at Tuesday's rally.

“We have decided to invite Kenyans to a consultative rally at Kamukunji grounds next Tuesday at 10am where the next course of action will be decided,” Ms Karua said.

"Lack of leadership"

Mr Odinga will also be jetting back into a storm in his ODM party after it emerged that some MPs are pushing for a meeting with him on his arrival to discuss effective leadership of the National Assembly, which they say crumbled in the fight against the Finance Bill, 2023.

The meeting is reportedly being organised by a first-term MP from the Nyanza region.

It is reported that the alleged lack of leadership and poor strategy caused the coalition to crumble in the fight against the Bill.

The fight against the Bill, which Azimio has described as anti-people, was billed as a battle between President Ruto and Mr Odinga as they flexed their political muscle in Parliament.

However, poor strategy and lack of coherence in consolidating ideas and strategies within the coalition leadership gave President Ruto’s forces an easy victory against all the proposed amendments.

Also read: ODM summons 28 members who voted yes, abstained from Finance Bill vote

Sources within the coalition told Sunday Nation that a cold war between members and a section of the leadership, which they felt was imposed on them, led some MPs to deliberately sabotage the opposition's course to mount a serious challenge to the Bill.

“What we lack in this House is leadership. On this Bill, we had the people and a number of MPs from the Kenya Kwanza side who were just waiting for us to mount a serious challenge and they would have joined us,” said a second-term MP.

Some MPs said they were confused because Minority leader Wandayi had initially said during a meeting with the Azimio Business Council earlier this month, attended by Mr Odinga, that the coalition would not table amendments to the Bill, only to change its position later.

A majority of MPs said there was no plan from the Minority leader on how they would proceed with the Bill, apart from Mr Odinga's public pronouncements.

The MPs said that even though Mr Odinga was fighting the Bill on the public platform, they had a duty in Parliament to strategise on how to counter Kenya Kwanza, but there was no leadership.

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