Ruth Odinga warns of threat to democracy after Homa Bay violence

Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga has expressed deep concern over the escalating violence surrounding the planned Linda Mwananchi rallies in Homa Bay. She warned that political leaders risk pushing Kenya towards a dangerous path of political suppression if they continue mobilizing young people to disrupt political gatherings.

Odinga was particularly saddened by the attacks on journalists Fred Ooko and Brian Ongoro of AFP, whose equipment was reportedly destroyed, and the assault on the political convoy. She emphasized that attacking a political convoy violated the constitutional rights of Kenyans to movement, assembly, and association. Odinga, a member of a political family herself, could not help but see a troubling pattern in Luo Nyanza, a region that had previously fought for democracy but now seemed to be using its own citizens to stifle dissent.

She accused unnamed individuals and entities of mobilizing youths to carry out violence, and questioned who stood to benefit from the political divisions. Odinga invoked the legacy of her father, former Vice-President and independence-era politician Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, whose life work was dedicated to protecting Kenyans' right to choose their leaders freely.

She also paid tribute to other notable figures who sacrificed their lives for Kenya's democratic struggle. Odinga called for a cessation of violence, urging political leaders to protect political pluralism and ensure future generations inherit a society where disagreements are settled through dialogue rather than violence. She argued that political differences should be resolved through debate, not through the use of weapons like pangas and stones.

Odinga lamented that Homa Bay, once a bastion of democracy, now embodied the very suppression of dissent she feared. She called upon political leaders to restore the spirit of democracy that Nyanza had historically championed.