Raila makes a last-minute change on protest rallies in Mt Kenya region
3 min read
Raila makes a last-minute change on protest rallies after concerns were raised that they had excluded the Mt Kenya region
Raila makes a last-minute change on protest rallies after concerns were raised that they had excluded the Mt Kenya region.
Prior to his March 20 State House march, Azimio leader Raila has scheduled significant rallies in President William Ruto’s strongholds to gauge public opinion.
As part of what is believed to be a calculated strategy to gauge popular mood prior to his massive protests next week, Raila will hold a mega rally on Thursday in Nakuru, one of Ruto’s strategic strongholds.
The leader of Azimio will then travel in Ruto’s Kiambu bedroom on Friday for a series of public engagements as he gathers support for the Nairobi “mother of all protests” on Monday.
The last-minute inclusions in the Azimio itinerary are seen as a deliberate move to also give Raila’s former running mate Martha Karua an opportunity to speak to her people.
Kiambu and Nakuru counties were chosen deliberately by Raila’s staff to gauge how well the Azimio message would be received in the President’s own political strongholds.
It has come to light that Raila’s group altered the Azimio schedule on Tuesday night at the last minute because of concerns that they had isolated Ruto’s strongholds in their anti-government campaigns.
The seclusion would be detrimental to Karua’s political prospects in her Mount Kenya region.
With the planned Azimio protest rallies in the two counties, all eyes will be on Ruto’s supporters if they will turn up in large numbers for the anti-government rallies.
“Clearly, Raila is taking his war against the President to his doorstep before launching his march to State House,” Kiambu-based political analyst Ndegwa Mwaniki said.
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Mwaniki said that Raila is keen to make his campaigns have a national outlook and also assess if his message against the government is resonating with all regions.
“He must have realized that the public anger over the cost of living is not limited to only his backyards and his entry to Mt Kenya and Rift valley is about testing the waters,” he said.
Analysts argue that should Raila’s rallies in Kiambu and Nakuru attract huge gatherings, then the President could be worried that he is losing his bases to the opposition.
The two rallies could as well be testing Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s grip on his Mt Kenya backyard given that both Kiambu and Nakuru have a huge concentration of the Kikuyu community.
Raila has asked his supporters to converge in Nairobi on March 20, for the grand march to State House to ‘reclaim his stolen presidential victory.’
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