- Opposition chief Raila Odinga has given President William Ruto a one-week ultimatum to reverse what he termed tribal state appointments or they call for self-determination.
- In a bold moved dubbed Yatta Two declaration, Raila threatened to write to the United Nation to separate from Ruto-led State over exclusion and biased government appointments.
Image: Screen grab
Opposition chief Raila Odinga has given President William Ruto a one-week ultimatum to reverse what he termed tribal state appointments or Azimio will call for self-determination.
In a bold move dubbed Yatta Two declaration, Raila threatened to write to the United Nations to separate from the Ruto-led State over exclusion and biased government appointments.
“We will write to UN for self-determination so that every Kenyan community can feel completely they are part of the government,” he declared.
Self-determination is the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own government.
Raila spoke at Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s Yatta home in Machakos on Friday where the opposition bosses scathingly attacked Ruto’s regime as oppressive and insensitive to the plight of Kenyans.
Kalonzo hosted all the opposition brigade and the Wiper elected leaders and other politicians for a thanksgiving prayer service that turned political.
Besides Raila, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, DAP-K chief Eugene Wamalwa, Roots Party leader George Wajackoyah and Usawa party boss Mwangi Wairia attended.
The Raila asked Ruto to immediately begin the correction of the imbalance in appointment in all public positions in the country or they will begin the self-determination process.
“If you read Kenya gazette every week, it's only one region. Kenya has 45 communities, all of them are Kenyans and they are paying taxes,” he protested.
“You are only giving jobs to your tribesmen. You don’t have the right to do that for Kenyans. You are hiring 51 PSs, not even one is from Kisii. Parastatals are filled with one tribe. Is that fair?”
Raila asked Ruto to immediately lower the cost of living and open the 2022 presidential election servers for audit to ascertain the winner of the contested elections.
He faulted Ruto for overtaxing Kenyans at the time they are facing economic problems, triggered by the high cost of basic commodities including unga, cooking oil and fuel.
“As if to add insult to injury, they have come to this thing called Finance Bill. This is an insult. They are bringing it with impunity then they are saying they will pass it whether we like it or not,” he reckoned.
The opposition boss accused Ruto of stifling political democracy by luring and bribing opposition members and plotting the downfall of opposition parties.
He placed the head of state at the centre of troubles in former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee party, adding that they will not resume the bipartisan talks until the outfit is 'set free.'
“We paid dowry for Jubilee. It’s ours. Now you are bribing MPs and telling them to take up leadership positions. If MPs want to move, we have a law. Since we reintroduced multiparty democracy, that law has been respected,” he said.
For this part, Kalonzo attacked the ‘rogue’ Ruto regime meting out atrocities on Kenyans through the forceful imposition of high taxes.
“It is becoming patently clear, day by day that Kenya kwanza lied to this land. The finance bill is a clear affirmation of their falsehood and we ask all Members of Parliament, regardless of their coalition affiliation, to stand with the people of Kenya and reject the bill in its totality,” he said.
“We must move with speed, consolidate Azimio's secretariat and be able to see whether going forward, we will give Azimio number one priority.
The wiper boss called on his Azimio colleague to quickly revamp the coalition's secretariat and position the outfit to unseat Ruto.
He reiterated that their team in the bipartisan committee will not resume the talks unless the regime reduces the cost of living and stop blatant interference with opposition parties.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)