By Brian Okoth
The High Court in Kenya’s capital Nairobi has declined to stop tax-hike protests set for Wednesday to Friday this week.
This comes as the opposition claims that security officers attached to main leaders Raila Odinga, his running mate in the 2022 Kenyan presidential election Martha Karua and former vice president Kalonzo Musyoka have been withdrawn.
A businessman, Martin Gitau, had petitioned the court to block the planned anti-government protests, terming them destructive and unconstitutional.
Gitau had listed Kenya’s former president Uhuru Kenyatta, opposition leader Raila Odinga and opposition party Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as the respondents.
Mention set for September
Judge Lawrence Mugambi has directed Gitau to serve the court papers to Kenyatta, Odinga and ODM’s leadership within three days from Monday and thereafter wait for a mention of the case on September 21, 2023.
Mugambi has also directed the respondents to file their affidavits within ten days after being served with the lawsuit papers.
“Unless this honourable court intervenes, the petitioner is apprehensive that the respondents herein shall proceed in their unlawful course of unlawful and violent protests, to the detriment of the majority of law-abiding citizens who deserve to carry on with their daily activities without disruptions,” Gitau said, through his lawyer Adrian Kamotho.
According to the petitioner, Kenyatta was being sued as the chairperson of the opposition coalition Azimio la Umoja, while Odinga was listed as a respondent for mobilising Kenyans to protest.
ODM, on the other hand, has been sued for playing a major role in charging up its supporters to take part in the protests. Odinga is ODM party leader.
The Kenyan government has projected it loses at least Ksh3 billion ($21 million) on each protest day to looters and vandals.
Security ‘taken away’
Meanwhile, the leader of the minority coalition in Kenya’s National Assembly Opiyo Wandayi has alleged that the government has withdrawn the security detail of Odinga, Karua and Musyoka.
The three, especially Odinga and Musyoka, are entitled to state security due to their previous senior positions in government.
Odinga served as Kenya’s prime minister between 2008 and 2013, while Musyoka served as vice president during that period. Karua, on the other hand, was a key minister under the justice docket, when Mwai Kibaki was the president.
Wandayi told Kenya’s Standard newspaper that Odinga’s security personnel manning his homes in Nairobi, western Kenya town of Kisumu and his ancestral home in Bondo, Siaya County have been withdrawn.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many officers were recalled by the government.
Kenya’s national police service is yet to respond to the allegations.
The country has witnessed regular protests after President Ruto assented to the Finance Act 2023 that introduced housing levy on salaried employees, higher taxation on fuel and top income earners.
Ruto says the government needs to raise more revenue from the taxes to avoid overdependence on loans.
