A group calling for demonstrations against punitive tax proposals wants President William Ruto to affirm his respect for the constitutional right of Kenyans to protest and picket peacefully.
In a statement, the Concerned Citizen Movement said the President should also affirm his total command of security agents, especially the police.
“Protestors must be heard and provided fair chances to occupy their rightful space in national development and not be condemned and brutalised by state organs,” the group leaders Prof Fred Ogola and Dr Joseph Mugachia said.
Ogola and Mugachia said the government needs to allow peaceful protests to be carried out by any citizen concerned of any issue affecting them.
The two said all citizens “abducted” should be released immediately and unconditionally.
They added that the government should take full responsibility for the deaths and injuries during demos.
“We emphasise that the Inspector General of Police and all Police Commanders should know that Concerned Citizens Movement will institute court petitions against them as individual state officers,” they stated.
Ogola and Mugachia noted that in the run-up to the 2022 elections, it was clear that the next President would have to be strategic in fixing the economy given the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Kenya’s hope for improved livelihoods, comfort and future has moved from bad to worse with the Finance Act 2023 hitting us badly and now it becomes even worse with the imminent passing of the Finance Bill 2024,” they said.
They added that the current administration needs to respect Generation Z's revolutionary thinking and not be dismissive.
“GEN Z, like other previous generations such as Boomers, Millennials, GEN X and Generation Y are highly misunderstood at their peak. Some leaders refer to GEN Zs as children and Cerelac generation," they lamented.
They said the President need to understand that the population, especially youth, is the most valuable asset of any nation when properly harnessed.
