According to Onyonka, the two leaders need to amicably resolve their political disagreements to tone down the heightened tensions ahead of a three-day anti-government protest.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show on Tuesday, the legislator expressed his concerns that if there will be no effective talks between the two leaders the nation might suffer irreparable damage.
“…We’ve got friends and colleagues who may not necessarily look at this country the way we should actually look at it and I am so worried about this country. It is actually scary because some people don’t seem to see the weightiness and the critical issues which are coming up,” he said.
He added: “Whether from either side or both sides, I think the leadership of a country needs to now begin to look at our lives. We only have one country and it is very easy to break it into pieces, it will be very difficult to put it all back together.”
“My hope is that President Ruto and Raila Odinga will realize that most probably we have about 24 hours and this country will either break or be saved.”
The Senator further noted that he is willing to engage leaders from Kenya Kwanza, whom he says are taking aggressive positions on the current political standoff, which also poses a threat to the nation’s governance.
“I’m also willing to beg my colleagues from the Kenya Kwanza alliance that many of them are kind of taking a really extreme position on this matter many of them are actually nearly taking it personally if you listen to the comment,” he said.
“Countries are never governed with extreme positions.”
Further, he noted that he is apprehensive about the decisions being taken by the government on pertinent matters concerning Kenyans, fronting an example of the lifting of a logging ban by President Ruto.
He questioned the sanity of leaders based on their decisions, arguing that the trajectory the nation’s leadership is taking will bear dire consequences.
“Some of these things are very worrisome it’s not even the protests. Just look the other day you had [the] presidential authority for the de-gazettement of forests to be cut, look at what is happening, we are cutting forests like we are eating food,” he said.
“Every place where there are forests people are cutting, what happened to us, what happened to our humanity?”
On Monday, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition asserted that the plan to hold the protests from Wednesday to Friday is still on despite stern warnings from the government.
Meanwhile, Ruto has cautioned Odinga against proceeding with planned demonstrations, saying the government will take him head-on if he does.
Senator Richard Onyonka: What is happening right now reminds me of 2007/8. I am so worried about this country; it’s scary. I hope that Ruto and Raila will realize that they have 24 hours to save or break Kenya #DayBreak @SamGituku pic.twitter.com/mhSelHvi2c
