Opposition leader Raila Odinga once again managed to rally citizens to protest.
Almost like a ritual, every election year since 2007, has had the recurring opposition leader stage protests in the name of “stolen elections”.
Last Monday saw billions lost as main towns went to a standstill as Odinga’s followers went to the streets. What was initially meant to be peaceful picketing, left a few people including police officers injured, a few others dead and property damaged.
During the 2007 elections, Raila Odinga disputed the results that had declared Mwai Kibaki as the winner. He insisted that they were marred by mass rigging, theft, and inconsistencies.
This sparked what Kenyans would refer to as exemplifying Kenya as “a cradle of violence” as the elections plunged Kenya into a period of bloodshed and mass killings of innocent Kenyans.
Animosity and enmity were at their peak across different ethnic divides. More than 1,300 people lost their lives and at least 650,000 others were displaced.
The general elections in 2013 were bitterly contested by two rivals Uhuru Kenyatta of The National Unity and Raila Odinga of the Coalition of Reforms and Democracy.
Uhuru was declared the winner, which Raila disputed due to the involvement of the Bio-metric Voter System, which he highlighted had drawbacks.
In 2017, the same contestants faced each other and had the same outcome with allegations that the electoral systems had been hacked.
Tension rose and a repeat election was held. NASA boycotted the repeat elections, leaving Kenyatta with an easy win by garnering 98% of the vote.
There was a subsequent period of unrest, with Odinga staging a mock swearing-in ceremony and declaring himself as the People’s President.
This led to warring factions between the supporters of Uhuru and Odinga followed by mass shootings in opposition areas in the slums and Kisumu.
These events gave rise to the March 9th handshake that brought together Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
After the 2022 elections, Odinga disputed the results and subsequently refused to recognise Ruto as the president.
Though relatively smaller, protests were held on 21st March 2023, demanding the 2022 election servers open and reduction of the cost of living.
His defiance in the past has gotten him in government, in one form or another. Could this be what Raila wants this time?
BY NKATHA WAINAINA