"Arrest Raila if he leads mass action" - Didmus Barasa to President Ruto

Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa now says that opposition leader Raila Odinga should be arrested if he makes real his threat to lead mass action against the government.

The lawmaker says that Raila's planned mass demonstrations against the government will be a recipe for chaos, insisting that security agencies should make sure that this does not happen.

"Rais wa sasa William Ruto siyo muoga kama Uhuru Kenyatta. Wewe [Raila] ukianza civil disobedience, nitaambia hii serikali itumie polisi ili ukamatwe. We are all equal, we will not accept one individual to commit a crime and go scot free. I am telling Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to arrest Raila if he starts civil disobedience," Barasa said on Saturday, February 25.

The Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader last week gave the President William Ruto-led government a 14-day ultimatum to lower taxes and reduce the cost of living or face nationwide protests.

"We have complained about rising taxes and the withdrawal of subsidies to food and education in the middle of drought and famine, which was reckless and heartless. Consequently, the subsidies must be restored, and the cost of basic commodities and taxes must come down in the next 14 days,” Odinga said at a national prayer rally at Jevanjee Gardens, Nairobi.

Despite threats from different quarters of the government, Raila has vowed to make good on his threat for mass action if the Kenya Kwanza administration will not issue a sustainable solution to the high cost of living in the country by the end of his 14-day ultimatum.