Police reveal 3 reasons for declaring Raila-led Azimio protests on Tuesday illegal

Police have denied Raila Odinga and his Azimio la Umoja coalition permission to hold anti-government protests on Tuesday.

While communicating the decision on Sunday, April 30, the police cited violence, looting and deaths that were reported during the recent anti-government protest by the opposition.

The Raila-led opposition held a series of anti-government protests that saw the opposition supporters clash with police and bring business to a near-standstill in Nairobi.

The protests which ran on Mondays and Thursdays were characterized by heavy police presence on the streets and teargas with police using water to disperse protesters.

The demonstrations were halted after the Kenya Kwanza administration extended an olive branch to the opposition, paving the way for bipartisan talks.

The talks however collapsed shortly afterwards with either side accusing the other of being insincere.

Following the collapse of the talks, the opposition announced plans to resume nationwide mass protests on Tuesday, May 2.

"We have set the date on a Tuesday to excuse workers who shall be celebrating Labour Day on Monday May 1," Mr Oparanya told a local media house.

Azimio Protestors engage police officers in Eastleigh, Nairobi on Monday, March 24, 2023 Pulse Live Kenya

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Short-lived cease-fire and collapse of bipartisan talks

The protest mark the end of a short-lived ceasefire that prevailed after a day-long meeting which saw the Azimio leader halt demonstrations after reaching a deal with President William Ruto on April 02.

The deal was reached just, a day before what the opposition chief had termed would be the mother of all demonstrations to force the Kenya Kwanza administration to give in to their demands, among them being resigning immediately.

As an apprehensive nation awaited how the situation would play out, a team of five Kenya Kwanza operatives led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji met Odinga’s team of three to broker a deal.

"He (Haji) is the one who initiated it. You got that information earlier, so I could not hide it. That very day - on Sunday, April 2, when the announcement was made, the teams sat from the morning.

"Later on, there are those who joined from the Kenya Kwanza side and there are also others who joined from our side," Oparanya said.