Brian Mayodi
Raila Odinga, the head of Azimio, has unlawfully proclaimed Monday, March 20, a holiday.
This, he claimed, is to enable supporters of Azimio to journey and take part in the widespread protest against what he described as an illegitimate government.
“I hereby declare here today in the name of Azimio One Kenya Alliance Coalition that Monday the 20th of March will be a public holiday,” Raila said.
However, the statement is invalid in legal terms.
According to the law, the cabinet secretary in charge of the Interior Ministry has the authority to designate public holidays.
Raila’s refusal to recognize William Ruto as the legitimate president after their August 9 contest is primarily what inspired him to call for widespread protests on March 20.
He accused the Ruto administration of failing to reduce living expenses and of keeping the IEBC servers closed so that it was impossible to determine the outcome of the poll.
“And after we have done what we have to do, wherever we are in every corner of the country, we shall finally converge in Nairobi. On that day our supporters throughout the country shall stage a massive procession in Nairobi for a legitimate and inclusive government,” he said on Thursday last week.
He emphasized that the goal of the demonstration is not to pressure Ruto into signing a handshake truce.
“We are doing this because it’s the right thing to do, the only alternative we have to be able to get our rights back,” Raila said.
