Raila criticises court decision allowing military streets' deployment
Politics
By
Olivia Odhiambo
| Jun 29, 2024
Azimio chief Raila Odinga has faulted the court's decision to allow the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) to support police in assessing the security situation across the country during protests.
Odinga argued that the military's role is to protect Kenya from both internal and external strikes, and foreign aggression, not to be deployed on the streets.
Speaking in Ugunja Constituency, Siaya County, during the burial of elder Owino Nyadi, Odinga said it was wrong for the courts to rule that the military should maintain peace in the streets. He emphasised that the Kenyan police are equipped to handle civilian issues.
Odinga condemned the police for using excessive force on peaceful protesters. He lamented that the country had reached a stage where the government had to involve the military due to the perceived failure of civilian police.
"We have repeatedly said that the law allows Kenyans to peacefully picket and demonstrate against what they don't like. Peaceful demonstrators should be escorted by the police, not shot at by them," he said.
READ MORE
Learning paralysed along KisiiTransmara border as communal clashes escalate
After 44 years without power, Narok school finally connects to the grid
Vision 2060: Kenya must fix today's failures before dreaming of tomorrow
Reprieve for 213 Lavington Club as court suspends Nema's closure order
Can Kenya's Land Reforms Protect Ordinary Citizens?
Kenya's Jekyll and Hyde moment: Bright on paper, broken on practice
33 stadiums to be complete within nine months PS Mwangi says
Malaria testing: New machine cuts diagnosis to just one minute
Kenya's great development illusion: We built the infrastructure, but forgot the people
Hyperspectral imaging: What Kenya's next national vision must not ignore
The Azimio leader further criticised the police's brutal force against peaceful protesters, calling it unacceptable. He claimed that police officers who shoot aimlessly at civilians are criminals who must be dealt with according to the law.
"In civilian authorities worldwide, police are not supposed to shoot to kill. Their responsibility is to protect the lives and property of the people," he said.
Odinga noted that in Kenya's 61 years of independence, the country had never witnessed anything like the recent events during Tuesday's protests, where police allegedly shot at innocent civilians.
"What we saw the other day was unimaginable and unprecedented. We have never seen anything like this before," he added.
He called on authorities who claimed goons had infiltrated the protests to reveal their identities and sponsors. "We are being told about hired goons. Who are these goons? Tell us, and who hired them?" he posed.
Odinga was accompanied by Minority Leader in the National Assembly Opiyo Wandayi and Siaya Governor James Orengo.