Kwale — The move by Azimio to call weekly protests has been described as ill-motivated and orchestrated to cause economic sabotage.
Prime cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi yesterday condemned the protests saying Azimio has a target of distracting the government's agenda on economic resuscitation.
"It is time to call in the law. The Azimo leaders are responsible for leading riots under guise of peaceful demonstrations that have resulted in wanton destruction of property and loss of lives." said Mudavadi.
He regretted that billions of shillings are lost every time the opposition calls a demonstration.
"I have personally worked with Azimio leader Raila Odinga. President William Ruto and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula among other leaders have also worked with Raila. He has demonstrated being a dishonest leader, politically." said Mudavadi.
He maintained a hardline stance that are acts of civil disobedience should not be tolerated in a democratic country, adding that Azimio will not intimidate the government.
"It is habitual now that election after election circle, Raila Odinga must stage a vicious destructive spectacle so as to be rewarded with accommodation in government. You cannot be the same person after every five years when you lose elections you seek avenues to subject a legitimate government into submission. Mambo ya nusu mkate ndio Azimio inatafuta (Azimio is seeking a coalition Government)," said Mudavadi.
"Every person has the right, peaceably and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket, and to present petitions to public authorities. This is envisaged under our constitution, but loss of life and destruction of property is not part of what is provided under the constitution and rule of law," added Mudavadi.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary was speaking in Diani, Kwale County.
He also castigated the move by Azimio to distract the Government's quest of putting in place measures towards economic stability.
"We need to be honest when we seek for dialogue. When we honestly speak to issues is when we get solutions. Kenyans should be awake to the fact of why the finance bill has been derailed. Where is the alternative that Azimio has placed on the table? he posed.
"We are losing up to Sh650 million daily, Sh20 billion monthly and it will escalate to Sh234 billion annually in terms of loss of revenue collection if we continue with this demonstrations trend. Who is losing, the tax payer!"Mudavadi said.
Mudavadi stated that Azimio is going to an extend of using county government's resources which are public resources to subject innocent Kenyans to participate in illegal demonstrations.
He says County government vehicles have been spotted ferrying demonstrators in various parts of the country.
"Azimio anarchy is clearly treason in as far as it is targeted at sabotaging the economy. Kenyans of goodwill must begin to question whether the ego trip of an individual is worth destroying what a nation has built for years, and also its future." added Mudavadi.
"Azimio has an orchestrated, deliberate and destructive move to block the minds of Kenyans from realizing the ultimate goal. They know we are targeting a bumper harvest. This will put them off the radar politically, because flour and the cost of living will ultimately go down," he affirmed.
Mudavadi said operations for government narrow down to collection from taxes which sums up to revenue or borrowing.
He said the Kenya Kwanza administration has resolved not to borrow further as it impacts negatively on the growth of the economy.
The Finance Act debate is just but a diversionary tactic being employed by Azimio, where the architects hid in their comfort and subject lives and the well-being of the country to anarchistic moves, he posed.
"The first charge on the consolidated fund goes to paying public debt. There are no two options about that when it comes to the budget making process. This shows how we are at a disadvantageous position from where Azimio placed us," he explained.
"The public debt! Who took us to that root? We cannot continue digging deeper the debt hole. Kenyans should understand that the debt problem we are facing was initiated by the Azimio leadership," he added.
Mudavadi said the chain reaction from what Azimio is perceiving as protests will be destructive and asked the opposition to reconcile themselves with reality that Ruto won the elections.
"We have seen in Nigeria, an oil producing country. When subsidies were dropped, they went to the streets. Ultimately, they reconciled with reality and life has moved on since they realized it wasn't adding up. In Kenya, we need to be honest to ourselves, subsidies were not helping, you can't pretend to be cushioning Kenyans and rob them at the same time." said Mudavadi.
"When you call for protests and individuals vandalize the infrastructure that their taxes funded, it boils down to zero work. Who then funds the repairs?" He posed.
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Mudavadi further cautioned Kenyans that the Azimio drive for signature collection amounts to Violation of Personal Data Privacy.
"One may be tempted to dismiss the illegal signature collection by Azimio as only one more scam by Azimio leaders to draw attention to their own sense importance. That it is meant to blindfold supporters that violence and sabotage will improve their lives. This is true. However, there is serious violation of personal data privacy in the making in the ongoing charade." said Mudavadi.
"The Data Protection Act, No. 24 of 2019 grants Kenyans rights regarding their personal data. These rights include the right of access, right to rectification, right to erasure, right to restrict processing, right to data portability, right to object, and rights in relation to automated decision-making. In other words, restrictions are placed on the use of personal data." he added.
He urged Kenyans to diligently safeguard personal information and data to avoid becoming vulnerable to online harassment and the theft of personal sensitive information.
"Why must we continue to spill blood of innocent lives because of selfish interest? Are we creating political vampires who want Kenyans to perish and they thrive on the lives of innocent Kenyans to satisfy their political greed and for self-gain? he posed.
