A section of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance leaders from the Senate and the National Assembly on May 2, 2023, went to the offices of President William Ruto located at Harambee House in Nairobi’s Central Business District to present their petitions to the government.
Led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, the leaders arrived at the gates of the office building peacefully and spoke to security manning the gates, asking them to send someone over to receive their petition and forward it to the relevant authorities.
“How are you? We are politicians from the Senate and the National Assembly. We have a petition here that we wanted to bring here on behalf of Azimio La Umoja. If there is someone who could receive it so that we can all go our ways because there are many offices we must go to today. Thank you very much. We are grateful,” said Senator Sifuna during a conversation with officials from the President’s offices.
The leaders could be heard discussing how they had come in peace without causing any conflicts; and that everyone around them were Honorable politicians in and out of the Harambee House gates.
However, minutes later, law enforcement authorities lobbed tear gas canisters at the Azimio leaders, scattering them and forcing them to run for their lives into their cars and in hiding places around the area. In his statement after police began firing at them, Senator Sifuna branded the Kenya Kwanza government and the police as cowards for how they behaved.
“My 50 colleagues and I have been teargassed outside the Office of the President as we marched peacefully to deliver the People’s Petition. Gachagua told us we know where to find them. We do. We went there and instead met Police. Cowards!” said Senator Sifuna.
The opposition led demonstrations resumed today, May 2, 2023, after more than a month hiatus to give an opportunity for bipartisan talks to take place between the government and the opposition. However, these talks hit a snag after the government chose some representatives who were allied to the Azimio coalition to represent them.
The opposition claimed the government never intended to sit down and have talks with the opposition and swore to return to the streets. The opposition has been demanding for the lowering of the cost of living in Kenya, opening of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission servers for audit to know who legitimately won the 2022 presidential election, the respect of political parties in the wake of the ruling party dismantling their opposition parties and inviting defectors to join them as well as the ceasing of replacing several IEBC commissioners including those who opposed the presidential election outcome.
Prior to the opposition carrying on with their day of maandamano, the government had banned demonstrations on the streets due to destruction of properties but Azimio said they would go to the streets because the routes they intended on using had no businesses along them, and their supporters did not destroy properties as alleged.
