An organisation comprising mainly of youths from 54 organisations has called for a nationwide protest Tuesday August 27 as the country marks Katiba Day.
National Provisional Coordination Committee of People`s Assemblies (NCCPA) led by their spokesperson Kasmuel McOure announced the protest over what they claimed was failure by President William Ruto to respect the Constitution.
They said that the Constitution which was promulgated in 2010 will have its 14th anniversary celebrated but has not been respected by the President and some other political leaders which they claimed had been brought in the government.
Together with their other leaders Prof. Fred Ogolla and Booker Ngesa Omole who is the Deputy National Chairman of Communist Party of Kenya they said that the Constitution which “symbolizes our collective struggle for justice, democracy and freedom was under vicious assault by the President.”
“Under President William Ruto regime the country has been plunged into darkness. Over 345 innocent people have been brutally murdered in extrajudicial killings,” they added.
Flanked by a number of youths among them university students leaders they said that Ruto had settled in forming an alliance with a few billionaires who they claimed had plundered the country’s wealth.
They labelled the current government as a corrupt one led by Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga whom they described him as an opportunist.
Together they said that they don`t recognize or respect the broad-based government, the post of Prime Cabinet Secretary which is held by Musalia Mudavadi and recycling of sacked Cabinet Secretaries into the government as advisors.
Former public service CS Moses Kuria and his ICT counterpart Eliud Owalo were on Thursday returned to the government and named as Presidential economic advisor and deputy chief of staff in charge of performance and delivery respectively.
The group continued to say that the country is in economic crisis and drowning in illegitimate debt adding that many youths were jobless and the cost of living was unbearable.
“We are calling for a total shutdown of the nation tomorrow.Tomorrow will not just be a day of commemoration it will be a day of mass action,” their statement added.
They went on to add that they were announcing a general strike, a protest against the tyranny of Ruto and demanded for his immediate resignation.
At 2.00 pm they urged Kenyans wherever they will be to abandon whatever they will be doing and have a short break of reflection on whether the constitution has helped them or not.
The group added that they will move around the country convincing Kenyans on why there is need for a new government in the country and that they will field some of their members for elective posts during election time.
In the statement they gave five points which they claimed people want:
1. Reclaim national sovereignty and establish a pro people`s government that reflects the true will of Kenyans,free from the influence of corrupt elites.
2. Implement economic justice by implementing policies that prioritize job creation,affordable living and equitable distribution of resources.
3. Cement accountability and justice,hold those responsible for corruption and extrajudicial killings accountable through transparent legal process.
4. Restore and defend constitutional integrity by ensuring that it remains the supreme law of the land, unaltered by those in power.
5. Establish inclusive governance through genuine mechanisms for people-driven public participation in decision making processes at all levels of government.
The leaders said that they were against the university students new funding model and announced that on September 9 they will hold a protest in the country’s universities to show dissatisfaction of it.
“Students who are getting higher funding are those whose parents are well connected and rich yet the poor ones get a small fraction of it,” they claimed.
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