• Raila said the residents were defending themselves after they were blocked by police.
•He added that he does not take responsibility for the damages that were caused.
Image: DANIEL OGENDO
Opposition Leader Raila Odinga has defended the protestors who were throwing stones at the police, claiming that they were defending themselves.
Speaking in an interview with BBC Africa on Monday, Raila said the demonstrators wanted to come out to protest but they were blocked by the police.
“There is offensive violence and defensive violence. The two are not the same. The police went and basically sealed the residences. People could not come out. They were throwing teargas at the people within their compounds,” said Raila.
And in their defence, Raila said they came out of their houses and started throwing stones at the police. "So those two kinds of violence are not the same.”
He added that he does not take responsibility for the damages that were caused since the protests were supposed to be peaceful.
The ODM leader noted that the constitution allows the people to exercise their rights either directly or through their elected leaders.
“So we were actually invoking that article in our constitution. Read together with article 37 of our constitution, which gives our people the right to picket, right to present petitions, right to demonstrate as long as it is peaceful.”
He said that president Ruto must fulfill their presented petitions in order for them to have a discussion.
“[President William] Ruto must first respect multiparty democracy. Secondly, he must agree that the server will be opened so that we can examine what is in the server.”
“Thirdly, he must stop the reconstitution of the electoral commission before we can sit down and talk. And finally, he must agree to address the issue of the cost of living of our people.”
On Monday, a section of a mosque in Kibera slums was burnt down in chaos that was witnessed in the area amid claims of sponsored thuggery.
And in retaliation, a group of youth raided the PCEA church in the area and set it on fire.
Several other stalls near both the mosque and church were razed down in the Monday night drama.
Police and IPOA say the Kibera chaos left two people dead and one injured.