Azimio MPs Teargassed While Presenting Petition At President’s Office

At the Office of the President in Nairobi on Tuesday, some Azimio lawmakers were attacked with tear gas.

While en route to the location to deliver a petition outlining the issues they wanted the government to address, the lawmakers got caught up in the altercation. Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna tweeted that the about 50 MPs affiliated with Azimio marched peacefully to express their complaints before the police intervened.

“As my colleagues and I quietly marched to deliver the people’s petition, we were teargassed outside the president’s office. Gachagua claimed that we were aware of their location. We do. When we arrived, the police were there. Cowards!” Soon after the event, Sifuna tweeted.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang, Likoni MP Mishi Mboko, and Kisumu West MP Rosa Buyu are just a few of the MPs caught up in the melee.

Azimio la Umoja Leader Raila Odinga said in a statement that the demonstrations on Tuesday will involve stops at four different government buildings across the nation. Azimio had intended to submit a petition to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commision (IEBC) calling for the dismissal of the “Cherera Four” commissioners and resolving electoral inequities.

The statement said that the Azimio team also intended to appear at the President’s Office to deliver a petition outlining the high cost of living as well as prohibiting the office from organising takeovers of competing political parties.

He was referring to the ongoing power struggles within the Jubilee Party, which is led by the recently-resigned President Uhuru Kenyatta. We shall go to the National Treasury to ask that the money owed to counties be released immediately and that all civil officials’ wages be paid on schedule.