Raila Odinga has issued an apology to journalists following the disruption by unruly youths during an Azimio press briefing at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation on Wednesday.
In a statement released on Thursday, Odinga acknowledged that several youths, some known and many unknown to the parties involved, invaded the venue and ejected participants.
“We understand that during the incident, a number of journalists who had been invited to cover the ODM-Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party meeting were roughed up,” the statement read.
Odinga expressed regret over the incident, noting that such occurrences had never happened at the Foundation’s premises.
“The Rt. Hon Raila Odinga regrets the events of yesterday and takes this early opportunity to offer unreserved apologies to the journalists and fellow leaders who got caught up in the unfortunate incident.”
The disruption forced Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to cut short the press briefing.
Odinga had already left the venue, with Kalonzo announcing that the former Prime Minister had gone to attend to an urgent matter before the meeting was disrupted by the youths.
Also present during the meeting were DAP-K Party leader Eugene Wamalwa, PNU leader Peter Munya, ODM deputy party leader Wycliffe Oparanya, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, and legislators from their respective parties.
The leaders were whisked away to safety, cutting short the press briefing where the Azimio Coalition leadership had declared they would not be party to the proposed broad-based talks.
The ODM leadership, which had held a Parliamentary Group meeting earlier, had expressed support for the talks.
Odinga promised to take action and address the security breach to prevent such incidents in the future.
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