BBC News Africa journalist Ferdinand Omondi and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga sat across the bench for a critical interview about incidences of violence witnessed during mass protests.
BBC Interview on Raila Protests Monday/Thursday
While speaking to Omondi, Raila expressed no interest of retreat or surrendering until his demands are met.
The concerned Omondi faced Raila head-on about real issues arising from the political stand-off.
Ferdinand Omondi – BBC
We have had cars vandalized, we have had people robbed, even journalists were robbed today, and some of those people who were conducting, or carrying out these attacks were demonstrating in your name. Do you take responsibility for those attacks?
Not at all! What happened today… today was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration. Our constitution, under Article 1 says that power in the Republic of Kenya (sovereignty that is) is in the hands of the people of Kenya.
They can either exercise it directly or through the elected leaders. So, we were actually invoking that article in our constitution. Read together with Article 37 of the constitution which gives our people the right to picket, the right to presentpetitions, and the right to demonstrate as long as it is peaceful.
Ferdinand Omondi – BBC
But there are those who will look at protestors holding stones, hurling them in the direction of the police and even at some citizens, and they will say, the constitution provides for people who are peaceful and unarmed. Would you not say you are stretching the meaning of peaceful demonstrations, if we do see protestors carrying stones?
People, therefore, came out to defend themselves, they wanted to get out, and that is why they were actually throwing stones at the police. So those two kinds of violence are not the same.
Ferdinand Omondi – BBC
Do you see a situation where Raila Odinga and President William Ruto sit down at a table to talk this out instead of the chaos we are seeing on the streets?
