RUNDOWN
• Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party will no longer serve the police with notices of their bi-weekly anti-government protests.
• The party SG claimed police have been disrupting the demonstrations with violence instead of providing security to demonstrators.

The Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party will no longer serve the police with notices of their bi-weekly anti-government protests, ODM Party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna said on Thursday.

This comes after the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome previously told the Raila Odinga-led faction to provide notices ahead of the planned demos, the coalition said it will no longer serve them because they have been ineffective.

The coalition has been holding demonstrations on Mondays and Thursdays in protest of what it terms President William Ruto’s administration’s failure to lower the cost of living and favouritism in State appointments, among other issues.

The party SG claimed police have been disrupting the demonstrations with violence instead of providing security to demonstrators.

“We are no longer going to issue notices. Let us exercise our rights under Article 37. Protests will happen spontaneously anywhere, anytime without notification of the police because we have realized the notifications are invitations for them to use violence on us,” he told one of the mainstream media.

Edwin argued that the violence and property destruction that has been witnessed in the last two demos has been police-induced, adding that the disciplined forces need to be removed from the streets for protesters to be calm.

By Jane Kibathi.