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Azimio leader Raila Odinga braved clouds of teargas and the force of water canons sprayed at his motorcade to lead thousands of his supporters in the first of a series of demonstrations to protest the high cost of living, among other grievances.

For several hours, Raila — accompanied by Wiper and Narc Kenya leaders Kalonzo Musyoka and Martha Karua — tried to break the heavy police barricades and access the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) from various entry points in vain.

In the end, he had to address various gatherings as his convoy made its way to different parts of Eastlands.

Raila’s motorcade first tried to access the CBD from Kenyatta Avenue but police thwarted his plan, after which he diverted to Haile Selassie Avenue from where he, for a second time, unsuccessfully tried to enter the CBD.

Eventually, he had to retreat to Uhuru Highway, onwards to Bunyala Road before ending up in Kamukunji where he addressed several roadside rallies.

At most of the stops, he declared that Azimio will stage similar protests every Monday until President William Ruto’s administration acts on their grievances.

 Besides the cost of food, Azimio has also demanded to be given access to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) servers to verify who won the August presidential election.

Raila’s motorcade made stop overs in Kamukunji, Eastleigh and parts of Juja Road, all areas with a high population density.

“Every Monday there will be protests. Today is just the rehearsal. We shall continue until the cost of living comes down. Ruto has brought the police, he has broken the law. We shall not be intimidated,” Raila said.

However, responding to the threats, President Ruto warned against acts of lawlessness, and asked every Kenyan to operate within the law.

While presiding over the swearing-in ceremony of Solicitor-General Shadrack Mose, Ruto reminded Kenyans to be mindful of other people’s rights even as they enjoy and exercise their own rights.

Other person

“The most important thing we did was to commit that as a country we are going to be a country governed by the rule of law by ensuring we follow what the Constitution provides for us and by also ensuring that we protect the rights of everybody. And as we enjoy our rights as individuals we must be careful to ensure we do not trample on the rights of others,” he said.

“The cardinal principle is that as a country that believes in the rule of law there is no greater or lesser person. None of us is above the law. The President is not above the law and so, we expect no other person to be above the Constitution. It is imperative upon us to respect the Constitution and operate within the Constitution,” the Head of State added.

In a Twitter thread, President Ruto said: “I will ensure as President that this country is governed by the rule of law and nothing extra legal, extra constitutional and nothing outside the Constitution is going to be part of us. Allowing ourselves to operate outside the law is actually condoning impunity and there will be no end to it. All of us must respect the law because it is for all us.”

Besides Nairobi, rallies also took place in Kisumu, Migori and Siaya counties. However, they were thwarted in Kakamega and Nakuru after police arrested organisers.

In Mombasa and lower eastern counties where Azimio enjoys support, the rallies also failed to take off. They flopped in the North Rift, South Rift and Mt Kenya regions, which overwhelmingly voted for Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, during the last elections.  No protests were reported in northern Kenya either.

Speaking at various stopovers, Raila told his supporters not to relent in their push for better living conditions.

“We have come to thank you for standing with us. We will be back,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Azimio leaders had protested the arrest of Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo, his National Assembly counterpart Opiyo Wandayi and MPs Amina Mnyazi (Malindi) and Ken Chonga (Kilifi South).

Led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, the legislators said they would intensify protests to force the government into dialogue.

“We want to condemn the interference of the police in what is a constitutional right. Our protest was peaceful, it was scheduled to be peaceful, but we have seen police interference in the protests. Some of the MPs have been assaulted. We have been teargased and some of our members have been arrested,” Sifuna protested.

He went on: “As we speak now, Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo and National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi are in police custody and have committed no crime. They tried to strangle me in the streets.”

And Junet Mohamed said: “We want our leaders who have been arrested to be released unconditionally.”

Police had from as early as 4am cordoned off main roads leading to the Nairobi CBD to keep away the protestors.

Commuters using the Thika Super Highway were asked to alight at the Ngara Road junction as matatus were compelled to terminate their trips at the same location.

Those arriving from Westlands through Kipande Road were blocked at the Globe Cinema roundabout while those using Waiyaki Way were dropped off at the University of Nairobi roundabout.

Manageable levels

Police also sealed off the CBD from the Bunyala Road roundabout for travellers using Mombasa and Lang’ata road while matatus from Eastlands to town were blocked at the Kariokor roundabout.  

“Our duty here is to tactfully lower the number of people inside the CBD to keep the demonstrations in Nairobi within manageable levels. We can’t tell apart who is genuinely headed to work or who is hired to protest,” a police officer told People Daily.   

By midday, security officers blocked anybody trying to access the CBD by walking, travelling in matatus or personal cars and riding on motorcycles.

“I left home in Gatanga early in the morning to take my daughter, who is a candidate this year back to her school in Nakuru. I want to board a connecting matatu from Nyamakima,” Rose Njeri pleaded with riot police at Ngara.

With her was her daughter, who was dressed in school uniform. Both were denied access into the city.

Police also dispersed boda boda riders who started milling around drop-off points. As a result of the cordon, the town centre remained deserted for the better part of the day with many bus stages playing host to few matatus.

However, in some areas, business premises with glass walls were stoned while in Kisumu, a United Democratic Alliance  office was torched as were several vehicles in the vicinity.

Reporting by Rawlings Otieno, Mercy Mwai, Alvin Mwangi, Samuel Kariuki, Noven Owiti, Douglas Dindi

and Roy Lumbe