Azimio Leader Raila Odinga has declared Monday, March 20, a public holiday to allow Kenyans to participate in the mass action.
Speaking during a political rally on Tuesday, March 14, in Siaya, the former Prime Minister added that it would allow their supporters who would normally go to work to join them in the rally.
The ODM leader made the announcement after a request from his Deputy Martha Karua.
“We do not want any kind of violence or bloodshed. It is going to be peaceful. We are only doing this because it is the only alternative that we have.
“In the name of Azimio one Kenya Alliance, We declare that Monday, March 20 will be a public holiday,” Raila stated.
Karua noted that Azimio supporters could not manage to go to work and also protest on Monday.
“I am requesting Raila to declare that day a public holiday to allow us to complete this work. We cannot keep having elections rigging every year, it has to stop.
“The people must use their constitutional right to ensure that they allow the person who was chosen by the people to take over the leadership of the country. Let us join the rally to save this nation. This fight is for the people of kenya,” Karua stated.
Odinga further revealed that religious leaders had appealed to him to postpone the protest, a move that he stated the coalition would not accept.
“A group of the clergy through the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) have appealed to me.
“I want to tell them in response that when Azimio came to the conclusion that we need to have a protest, it was after our ultimatum was ignored,” Odinga stated,
Ruto offers Raila job on condition that he retires from active politics
President William Ruto wants his fierce rival Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance leader Raila Odinga to retire from active politics so he could be offered a job.
Ruto revealed he was ready to offer Raila a job to support the country in other initiatives like the Great Lakes region where the former premier has contacts.
“When Raila Odinga decides to retire, I think there are roles he can play as a Kenyan leader. He can support the country in other initiatives, in other areas may be in the Great Lakes region because he has contacts there; he can work with the rest of us as an elder statesman, as a person who has served as Prime Minister of Kenya. It is not for me to choose. I mean it is for Kenyans. Kenyans love these leaders,” Ruto said during an interview with BBC.
Ruto says no to ‘handshake’ with Raila
The President further stressed that there would not be another handshake like the one between retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila.
Ruto termed the Raila-Uhuru handshake as the biggest ‘fraud’ for the people of Kenya, saying it should have never happened in the first place.
“As President, I would deploy all the resources we have for the good of the country, to provide for the country positively and if Raila Odinga came by, I would find something for him to do but not in the handshake arrangement. That one I ruled out a long time ago. We want to have a functional democracy,” Ruto said.
