Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has advised President William Ruto to treat the Azimio protests with the seriousness they deserve.
Ngunyi was responding to a video of the multitude of people who braved police teargas to attend the Saba Saba rally called by Azimio leader Raila Odinga at Kamukunji grounds.
The crowd, in total defiance of police pushback at all points of entry to the CBD, braved tear gas and water cannons and matched on towards Central Park, the final destination where Raila had been expected to deliver a final address.
“Dear Ruto: This picture scared me. It is a ground swell. You cannot buy these multitudes. And you can kill the messenger, but not the message,” Ngunyi said.
“The enemy is not Raila. The enemy is the People. These people have nothing to lose except their chains. Don’t be casual,” he added.
While at Kamukunji, Raila launched the collection of 10 million signatures which he said would indicate Kenyan’s desire to push the Ruto regime out of power.
He vowed to lead the march to Central Park despite tight security as police blocked all roads in and out of Kamukunji grounds.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1677283875263848448
But after hours of doing battle with the police, Raila’s motorcade was eventually allowed to cut through the CBD although his supporters were prevented from going past the police barricade.
The Azimio leader in a media address at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation in Upper Hill said “We have gotten into the CBD, that is a very huge achievement”.
“It took as a very long time, throwing teargas at us for no reason at all,” Raila said, adding that his vehicle was shot on Moi Avenue.
In a subsequent tweet, Ngunyi told the President not to ignore the growing dissent against his government warning that revolutions across the world begin in the exact same style as the Azimio protests.
“Revolutions are started in small instalments -Little by Little. Then they acquire a life of their own,” he said.
“Today, France is burning. In 1789, when the French people asked the Oligarchs to drop the price of bread, they told them: “…If you can not eat bread, eat cake,” Dear Ruto,” Ngunyi added.
Top on Azimio’s bone of contention with the Ruto administration is the rising cost of living coupled with the introduction of a ‘punitive’ tax regime via the Finance Act, of 2023.