Raila Odinga has alleged an assassination attempt on his life during Thursday’s anti-government protests led by Azimio in Nairobi.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga. Photo: Curtesy
“There’s no justification for the excessive force used against peaceful unarmed citizens exercising their democratic rights today. The unprovoked attack left my car hit with 7 live bullets, each aimed at me. Despite this, we won’t be deterred. As Kenyans, we have the right to demand a forensic audit of the server to resolve this matter once and for all. Our quest won’t stop and we’ll hold the mother of all demonstrations next Monday, regardless of what our detractors say. We won’t give up! 💪🏽. We ask KOT to assist us identify these shooters,” Raila shared on Social media.
Photo of alleged attacker directing gun To Raila’s vehicle. Photo: Raila Odinga
Addressing the media in Karen, Raila claimed his car was shot at seven times with live bullets, in what he believes was a direct attempt to take away his life.
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Odinga further blamed President William Ruto-led government, accusing it of taking the country to pre-colonial times with what he termed as attacks against peaceful demonstrators merely exercising their rights.
Raila slammed foreign nations for allegedly fanning the conflict instead of solving it by, first – and at the very least – standing on the fence and not taking sides.
“We condemn in the strongest terms possible what has happened today. Today is a very sad day in the history of this country. This shows that we’re degenerating into the colonial stage, where lives of Africans did not matter at all, because there’s no reason why police should use this kind of force against unarmed citizens who are merely exercising their democratic rights,” Raila said.
“My own car was hit seven times with live bullets, and the direction of the bullets were all aimed at me. These people have been threatening and blackmailing us, unfortunately the friends of this country are not helping. Look at the statement released by some ambassador based here, you would think that they live in a different country; they’re actually adding fuel to this conflict, instead of being independent and neutral arbiters.”
Photo of alleged attacker hitting a media’s Vehicle. Photo: Raila Odinga
The Azimio Principal also condemned attacks on the press witnessed during the Thursday protests, where at least six journalists from different media houses – among them Citizen TV, NTV ana KTN were hospitalised after reportedly being brutalised by both goons and police officers while covering the demos.
One of the journalists who were attacked on Thursday during protests. Photo: Curtesy
He also alleged a plot hatched by senior government officials to raid property owned by former President Uhuru Kenyatta, in what would’ve been reminiscent of the invasion of the ex-Head of State’s Northlands farm on Monday.
“It is very unfortunate that in the whole of these skirmishes, the media is being targeted for attack. The other day and today, several journalists have been injured,” he claimed.
“We also had information that they were planning to attack Uhuru’s farm, business, and residences.”
Odinga however maintained his grievances, stating that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) server should be opened and an audit done so that any doubts about the election are put to rest.
He added that the four disgraced and sacked IEBC commissioners led by former Vice Chair Juliana Cherera, should be reinstated.
