Raila Odinga - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

Kenya’s Ruto says further tax-hike protests will not be allowed

KENYAN President William Ruto vowed that protests planned next week would not be allowed following two rounds of demonstrations that have left at least 15 people dead. Opposition leader Raila Odinga's party called earlier in the day for three more days of protests from next Wednesday against tax hikes that Ruto signed into law last month. Ruto beat Odinga in last August's election. He pledged to be a champion for the poor, but his critics say the tax rises will hurt Kenyans already struggling to afford basic commodities such as maize flour. "Elections ended August 9 last year. You cannot look for…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Tax-hike protesters clash with Kenyan police, two shot dead

NEWS

STONE-THROWING demonstrators clashed with police and two were shot dead, officers on the scene said, in anti-tax protests in cities and towns around Kenya called by opposition leader Raila Odinga. Police fired tear gas to disperse protests in the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and several other towns, according to Reuters reporters and footage aired on Kenyan television stations. Some of the most intense clashes took place on the expressway linking Nairobi to its international airport, where protesters lit fires and pulled down the flower boxes that usually line the road to use as barricades. Police officers patrolling…

Jul

2023

By AYENAT MERSIE and HUMPHREY MALALO

Kenyan police clash with anti-tax hike protesters, dozens arrested

NEWS

KENYAN police fired tear gas and fought running battles with opposition supporters in major towns around the country protesting against a raft of tax hikes. Opposition leader Raila Odinga called the protests to oppose tax increases imposed at a time when many are already struggling with high prices of basic commodities such as maize flour. Kenya's High Court ordered that the tax hikes be suspended but the government has raised petrol prices anyway, leading to a further court challenge. Police arrested 17 protesters in the capital Nairobi, said a coalition of human rights groups including Article 19. Another 11 activists were arrested…

Jun

2023

By AYENAT MERSIE

Kenya’s opposition leader rallies supporters to boycott new taxes

NEWS

KENYA'S opposition leader Raila Odinga asked his supporters to boycott a raft of new taxes on items including fuel and housing, stoking a potential confrontation with the government of his rival President William Ruto. The levies were contained in a finance bill that was signed into law by Ruto on Monday. "Through civil disobedience, we will deny Ruto the taxes he thinks he can extort from us by force," Odinga told thousands of cheering and dancing supporters at a rally in the capital Nairobi. Under the new revenue measures, the fuel tax will double to 16% and workers will also…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya opposition says it suspends protests after agreement with government

NEWS

KENYA'S opposition said they had suspended the latest anti-government protests planned after reaching an agreement with the government of President William Ruto. In a statement, the opposition Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) alliance, led by veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga, said its leadership had met and "agreed to once more suspend the mass protests that we had earlier scheduled to continue tomorrow." The decision to suspend the protests was taken after Ruto's ruling Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) alliance agreed "to one of our demands," according to the statement. The opposition did not provide details of the agreement. On Monday…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan anti-government protests resume with police firing tear gas

NEWS

KENYAN police fired tear gas at a small group of protesters in the capital Nairobi on Tuesday as the opposition resumed anti-government demonstrations following a one-month pause. The main opposition coalition organised three days of demonstrations in March to protest high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's election, which its leader Raila Odinga lost to President William Ruto. Those protests were marred by clashes between police and demonstrators as well as sporadic incidents of violence, including one that Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki termed as "ethnically-laced arson" when a church and mosque were set ablaze in Nairobi's Kibera neighbourhood. Odinga suspended…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan opposition ready to talk to government, resume protests

NEWS

KENYA'S opposition alliance is prepared to negotiate with the government over electoral reforms and the high cost of living, while also resuming protests, opposition leader Raila Odinga said. In early April, Odinga ended anti-government protests after an appeal from President William Ruto but said at the time they could resume within days if there was no meaningful engagement or response from the government. Thousands participated in three marches held over two weeks in late March and early April. The protests, in part stirred by accusations of fraud in last August's presidential election, were all marred by violence. "Kenyans are standing firm. We have…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Mass protests in Kenya have a long and rich history – but have been hijacked by the elites

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

KENYAN opposition leader Raila Odinga and his coalition party, Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya, recently called for mass protests across the country. Odinga and his team have questioned the legitimacy of President William Ruto’s win in the country’s August 2022 election, and taken issue with the rising cost of living. The Conversation Africa’s Kagure Gacheche spoke with Westen K Shilaho, a senior researcher on African politics, who explores the evolution of political protests in Kenya. Author WESTEN K SHILAHO, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for PanAfrican Thought and Conversation (IPATC), University of Johannesburg What does the law say about political protest? The…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya police, crowds clash in third wave of price rise protests

NEWS

AYENAT MERSIE PROTESTERS threw stones at police in Kenya's capital and attackers set fire to an office run by the president's party in a western town during a third wave of demonstrations organised by his opponents. Thousands joined marches called by opposition leader Raila Odinga against high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's vote. The government has said the vote was fair, defended its economic record and called for the protests to stop. Violence also marred Monday's protests, and the first demonstrations the Monday before that, prompting pleas for calm from civic leaders who said they feared a descent into…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s Ruto to deal with those involved in criminal activity during protests

NEWS

KENYA'S President William Ruto warned he would deal with all those involved in criminal activity during protests, he said during a visit to Germany. Police fired teargas and water cannons at stone-throwing supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga on Monday during a second week of protests against the government and high food prices, with one person shot dead in the western city of Kisumu. In separate incidents on Monday, unidentified people vandalised a property belonging to Odinga's family and another owned by former president Uhuru Kenyatta, who supported Odinga in last year's election, Kenyan media reported. "My position as president is that…