Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has urged the Kenyan youth to avoid taking to the streets on June 25 to commemorate the deadly aftermath of last year’s anti-tax protests, warning that there is a plot to kill them.
According to Gachagua, President William Ruto and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja have been hiring goons every time they tour the Nairobi region and the same crowd will be used to launch a deadly assault on the youth.
The ex-DP alleged there is a plot already in place to hire the goons and disrupt the planned remembrance of the killed youth during last year’s protests.
“I fear that if the youth take to the streets, the government and the governor of Nairobi will use goons. They will be brought from Umoja, Kayole and other places and come to kill the youth,” he told Kameme FM on Monday.
“The level of desperation William Ruto and his people have is very high and it is something to think about because these children are ours and I feel so bad when blood is shed. I would urge them to not come out in the streets because they will be set up and be killed.”
Gachagua urged parents and the youth to ensure that the march is conducted from their homes, insisting that “these people really want to spill the blood of young people. I do not know why this blood is making them happy. Let us not take our children to the slaughterhouse while we watch”.
Gachagua referenced the chaos witnessed on Thursday, June 12, when protests were held in the CBD calling for the arrest of Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Eliud Lagat, over the death of Albert Ojwang’ while in police custody.
He said that the cars that were torched were simply a justification by the State to prompt brutal police force.
“There was no car that was burnt because nobody has filed a report to the police that their car has been torched. The cars were checked in the NTSA (National Transport and Safety Authority) radar and they were found not to be registered to anyone,” he added.
“It was an attempt to try and bring the police to attack the youth and accuse them for burning the cars.”
This comes amid calls for an assembly in Nairobi to remember the youth who lost their lives during the protest as the nation marks a 1 year anniversary.
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has called for the lighting of candles at Parliament Buildings to remember the deadly protests.
“On the 25th of June, Kenyans should go there and light candles in front of the gates, because we must honour the young Kenyans who died or were injured during confrontations with the police,” Kalonzo said during a church service in Kilifi.
