Jubilee Party Issues Azimio’s Stand On Gen Z Protests And Dialogue
On Thursday, Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni revealed that Azimio opposes any dialogue with President William Ruto.
In a video posted after attending a series of meetings within the opposition coalition, the former lawmaker revealed that Azimio had reached an official agreement following a split after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga met with the Head of State.
Jeremiah Kioni: The official position of Azimio is that we are not entering into any dialogue with UDA and not joining the government of William Ruto. We stand by the demands that have been put forward by Gen-Z.#K24Siasa pic.twitter.com/gqZ3Lp11Wb
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) July 17, 2024
“We have had a series of meetings as members of Azimio at different levels and we may have been reading different scripts before the meetings that we had yesterday and today,” Kioni stated.
“The official position of Azimio is that we are not entering into any dialogue with UDA. We are not joining the government of William Ruto.”
He also stated that the coalition, including the Jubilee Party, supports Generation Z, who have launched a series of demonstrations aimed at holding the state accountable over the last month.
Kioni explained that the opposition had given the Head of State irreducible minimums that, if not met, would lead to the Jubilee party joining the youth protests.
“We stand by the demands that have been put forward by Gen Zs and we have demands that we made that need to be addressed very quickly. We, in Jubilee, hold that if those demands are not met then what is left of us is just to join the Gen Zs in the demonstrations,” he added.
“One of the demands is these unnecessary abductions. Even before we talk about the killings, we would like to join the families that have been left by family members, and those who are still looking for those members who are lost. We condemn the regime for this heinous act that it has continued to occasion on these young families.”
His comments came hours after Azimio leader Raila Odinga rejected protesters’ demands for Ruto’s resignation.
The former Prime Minister argued that removing Ruto would result in Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ascending to the top job and promoting the same policies that the youth have been opposing.
“Ruto goes, then what? Ruto may go then Gachagua takes over [to continue] implementing bad policies,” Odinga revealed.
“Ruto can also say ‘I am tired, let the [military] generals take over. Then the country begins to go through what Egypt went through after Tahrir Square. ‘Ruto must go’ cannot be an end.
“It’s at times of crisis like this that a country needs to talk. We are not doing it to save Ruto. We are doing it to save Kenya. Generals don’t have teargas. They don’t have water cannons. They have bullets.”
Last night, Acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja prohibited protests in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) until further notice.
He explained that intelligence informed the police that organised criminal groups intended to use protests to commit various types of crime.
Jubilee Party Issues Azimio’s Stand On Gen Z Protests And Dialogue
