Kenya’s main opposition coalition Azimio La Umoja has issued a bombshell call for the impeachment of President William Ruto’s “disastrous” Kenya Kwanza regime, accusing it of catastrophic failures in preparing for and responding to the devastating floods that have left over 238 people dead, 300,000 households displaced, and immense economic damage across the country.
In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition led by veteran politician Raila Odinga launched an unprecedented attack on the nine-month-old administration, lambasting it as fundamentally incompetent, dysfunctional and unfit to govern in the face of such monumental crises.
“Kenya Kwanza is a DISASTROUS REGIME that should be impeached!” the opposition declared in unequivocal terms, slamming the government’s purported reluctance to declare the floods a national disaster in order to unlock contingency funds from state coffers.
“Could it be that there is no money in the contingency fund? And if no money, who has expended the money and on what? Kenyans want to know,” the statement questioned, alleging potential misuse or depletion of emergency funds.
Azimio cited the tragic death of a young boy Ian Otieno in Nairobi’s Mathare slum during a government demolition exercise as shocking evidence of the regime’s “reckless and reactionary” strategy that has shown blatant disregard for human rights and loss of life.
“Any such evacuations, whether mandatory or voluntary must be done in a humane manner that respects human rights without causing further deaths,” the coalition demanded.
The withering condemnation also took aim at Ruto’s recent announcement of KES 1 billion in emergency aid, with each affected household set to receive just KES 10,000.
“For the families who have lost everything, such allocations are too little to start afresh,” the statement lambasted, demanding at least KES 100,000 per household and for the government to immediately launch an emergency aid appeal for billions more, given the Red Cross’ estimate the crisis could require KES 7 billion.
Azimio claimed the regime had critically failed to heed early meteorological warnings about the risks of catastrophic El Nino flooding, accusing Ruto of misleading the nation after initially disregarding the forecast that later proved accurate.
“It is now turning out that it is President Ruto and his regime that misled the country on El Nino,” the statement charged.
Beyond the flood crisis, the opposition also demanded the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry into last month’s deadly helicopter crash that killed the chief of the defence forces Gen. Francis Ogolla and nine other officers amid “suspicions” of potential “sinister political machinations” linked to the 2022 elections.
