Gachagua thanks Azimio for stopping demos, says they are good people

By Peter Ochieng

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Saturday called Azimio leaders and supporters ‘good people,’ after stopping anti-government protests that rocked the country for the better part of early this year.

Speaking in Isiolo county during the thanksgiving ceremony of Petroleum Principal Secretary Mohamed Liban, Gachagua said Azimio had resorted to violence after losing the presidential contest in 2022, but now they are good people.

“Wale tuliwashinda walikuwa wametoa fujo, siku hizi wamekuwa watu wazuri wamewachana na fujo. (The ones we defeated were causing violence but nowadays they are good people, they have stopped violence),” said Gachagua.

On July 24th, 2023, Azimio leadership led by Raila Odinga called off anti-government protests to leave room for bipartisan talks with Kenya Kwanza.

Azimio strongholds such as Kisumu, Nairobi, Siaya, Homabay and Migori were the epi-centres of the demos, which were outlawed by the government.

The coalition claimed that over 50 people died, most of them reportedly shot by police during what was expected to be peaceful demos that turned violent along the way. Azimio leaders accused police of brutality and highhandedness.

“Some have been shot in the back as they were fleeing or in a position of surrender. The shots have been aimed at the vital organs and delicate parts of the victims like the abdomen, the spine, the chest and the head,” the coalition said in a statement, then.

Gachagua, brandishing a cane handed to him in Isiolo said he will keep it away since the people he had expected to cane are now good.

“This cane its work is over. Those people have stopped violence, they are now good. But I will not keep it far away, if they get confused and go back to violence, I will use it on them.”

The bipartisan talks team is co-chaired by Azimio’s Kalonzo Musyoka and Kenya Kwanza’s Kimani Ichung’wah.