Azimio leader Raila Odinga has confessed to a group of his troops he is under immense internal and external pressure to drop the planned mass action on Monday.
Raila spoke just hours after a warning salvo from President William Ruto, telling the opposition “enough is enough”, and pledging to resist what he termed blackmail of his government by Azimio.
Critics called Raila a suicide bomber, ready to blow up Kenya and die.
At a monthly night meeting of Luo Nyanza MPs known as 'Dual', Raila said powerful actors locally and abroad have been exerting pressure on him to abandon street action and disrupt national stability.
Without stating the source of the pressure, the former Prime Minister said the actors are insisting he and President Ruto should talk to end the political tension.
“He told us there is real pressure within and without, demanding that they sit down and speak to forestal the Monday mass action,” a lawmaker who attended the meeting told the Star.
The meeting took place on Wednesday night at the home of Nyando MP Jared Okelo.
Interventions by Western powers have previously been used to prevail on opposition actors in various countries to toe the line.
The same foreign powers have forced protagonists to the negotiating table.
Ahead of the 2018 handshake between Raila and then President Uhuru Kenyatta, then American envoy Robert Godec and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley were negotiating behind the scenes to find a truce.
Sources who attended the Nyanza meeting said Raila sought the MPs' opinion but the lawmakers unanimously dismissed the pressure, saying they must continue with their anti-government mass action plans.
“We told him it is too late, our supporters are already psyched up and we cannot disappoint them because if you keep on cancelling such activities, nobody will take you seriously next time,” a first-term MP said, requesting anonymity.
The sources confided that the meeting resolved that MPs from rural constituencies are free to facilitate supporters to the capital to make the day a 'big success'.
“We agreed anyone is free to ferry supporters to Nairobi. Our supporters are already prepared and there was also a feeling that Nairobi must be thoroughly mobilised for the day as well,” a Migori MP said.
On Wednesday, President Ruto issued a stern warning to Raila, saying he will not allow him to hold the country to ransom.
“Raila has been holding bloody and chaotic demonstrations for the last 50 years; he needs to assure Kenyans that this will be different,” the President said.
But speaking in Nakuru on Thursday, an obviously agitated Raila told Ruto that he will not succumb to the threats.
The Opposition chief took issue with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's statement that they will “find a final solution to Raila”.
“You can assassinate Raila Odinga physically, but you can never assassinate his ideas and the cause for which he stands,” the former PM stated.
In Parliament, at least 14 Azimio MPs came out to declare no turning back on the planned protests and warned that Ruto and Gachagua will be held responsible should anything happen to Raila.
“We in Azimio will hold Ruto and Gachagua responsible if anything happens to Raila Odinga. We want Gachagua to write a statement. We want to say here clearly that if anything happens to Raila or any member of Azimio, we will hold Gachagua and Ruto responsible,” Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said.
The MPs were led by National Assembly Majority Leader Opiyo Wandayi and his Senate counterpart Stewart Madzayo.
The MPs also included Mishi Mboko (Malindi), Dan Maanzo (Makueni Senator), Timothy Wanyonyi (Westlands), Jared Okelo (Nyando), Oburu Odinga (Siaya senator), Peter Orero (Kibra), Joshua Oron (Kisumu Central), Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Antony Oluoch (Mathare) and Jack Wanami (Bumula).
They said Gachagua’s statement should not be taken lightly, listing a number of political assassinations across the world that started as mere threats.
Sifuna demanded that DCI must investigate the threats to the life of Raila and have the DP summoned to record a statement.
Wandayi dismissed Ruto’s call to Raila to liaise with the police on how he will proceed with the Monday demonstrations.
“Ruto’s call on the police to come to agreement is uncalled for. Employers from all shades should release their employees on that day because it will be a holiday,” Wandayi said.
But Ruto's troops have described the mass action plans as "desperate, selfish, evil, treasonable and unpatriotic actions of a sore loser".
Led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichunhg'wah and Whip Silvanus Osoro, the MPs said Raila’s politics thrive in chaos and he is a man ready to go down with his country.
“He has decided to become a political suicide bomber. He won't lose alone. If he loses, Kenya loses too. He is ready to burn down the country, in a last final attempt to redeem his bonoko ‘liberator’ image,” Osoro said.
Ichung'wah said the planned Monday’s demos have nothing to do with the common mwananchi but everything to do with Raila.
“The youths of Kenya must remember that as they are being called to the streets for slaughter, the sons and daughters of the organisers of the demonstrations are away in Arusha as members of the EALA Parliament,” Ichung'wah said.
“They are drawing salaries from the taxpayers’ coffers and building good careers and lives for themselves as the sons and daughters of hustlers are encouraged to be on the frontline of danger and peril.”
Raila has been under pressure to drop the plans since last month when he declared mass action. On Monday a group of inter-religious leaders urged him to go slow on the demos and give dialogue a chance.
They were National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem), Hindu Council of Kenya, Inter-Religious Council of Kenya, the National Muslims Leaders Forum, and the Organisation of African Instituted Churches.
(Edited by V.Graham)