Raila criticises court decision allowing military streets' deployment

ODM Leader Raila Odinga. [The Standard]

Azimio chief Raila Odinga has faulted the court's decision to allow the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) to support police in assessing the security situation across the country during protests.

Odinga argued that the military's role is to protect Kenya from both internal and external strikes, and foreign aggression, not to be deployed on the streets.

Speaking in Ugunja Constituency, Siaya County, during the burial of elder Owino Nyadi, Odinga said it was wrong for the courts to rule that the military should maintain peace in the streets. He emphasised that the Kenyan police are equipped to handle civilian issues.

Odinga condemned the police for using excessive force on peaceful protesters. He lamented that the country had reached a stage where the government had to involve the military due to the perceived failure of civilian police.

"We have repeatedly said that the law allows Kenyans to peacefully picket and demonstrate against what they don't like. Peaceful demonstrators should be escorted by the police, not shot at by them," he said.

The Azimio leader further criticised the police's brutal force against peaceful protesters, calling it unacceptable. He claimed that police officers who shoot aimlessly at civilians are criminals who must be dealt with according to the law.

"In civilian authorities worldwide, police are not supposed to shoot to kill. Their responsibility is to protect the lives and property of the people," he said.

Odinga noted that in Kenya's 61 years of independence, the country had never witnessed anything like the recent events during Tuesday's protests, where police allegedly shot at innocent civilians.

"What we saw the other day was unimaginable and unprecedented. We have never seen anything like this before," he added.

He called on authorities who claimed goons had infiltrated the protests to reveal their identities and sponsors. "We are being told about hired goons. Who are these goons? Tell us, and who hired them?" he posed.

Odinga was accompanied by Minority Leader in the National Assembly Opiyo Wandayi and Siaya Governor James Orengo.