What do the war of words between President William Ruto and Raila signify? While Kenyans continue to face difficult living conditions due to...

What do the war of words between President William Ruto and Raila signify?

While Kenyans continue to face difficult living conditions due to the rise in the cost of living in the world, the situation caused by the war in Ukraine and the severe drought conditions, a political conflict has erupted in the country, a situation that may continue the poor living conditions and become a burden for many Kenyans if it is not highlighted quickly.

This is after the opposition leader in Kenya, Raila Odinga, who opposed the results of the 2022 presidential election, disapproved President William Ruto as the winner, claiming that the opposition does not recognize the leadership of the President and his government.

Speaking a few hours after his visit to South Africa, Raila Odinga, who marched directly with thousands of his supporters to the historic Kamukunji Stadium in Nairobi, said that he has evidence that the IEBC Electoral Commission tampered with the results of the election to give his victory to his opponent William Ruto.

Raila said that a dedicated IEBC official who he did not name conducted an investigation which revealed that he defeated William Ruto by more than three million votes and not as announced by the IEBC commission that gave Ruto the victory.

Mr Odinga appealed eight times to Kenyans, insisting that the Kenya Kwanza government was in power illegally.

"First, we as Azimio reject the results of the 2022 election. We cannot and will not recognize Kenya Kwanza's government and we consider Kenya Kwanza's government illegal," Mr Odinga said.

Mr Odinga said that all the basic structures and records of the 2022 election in the electoral commission, IEBC should be made public and reviewed by a neutral body - and that judicial review of the results and IEBC servers is not negotiable.

He called on every Kenyan to oppose and demand the removal of punitive taxes that have caused the high cost of basic goods and services including flour, milk, sugar, school books, fuel, electricity, fares, kerosene and school fees to rise. ."

But speaking shortly after Mr. Raila Odinga's announcement, President William Ruto said that the Leader of the Azimio Union was trying to force his government to enter into some agreement so that he could support his family needs.

The president swore that we would not accept being lied to and canceled the agreement with Mr Odinga as it happened in 2018 where the leader made a handshake agreement with the then president Uhuru Kenyatta following the 2017 election which was plagued with controversy.

"I want to tell them to forget the handshake, and don't tell us you don't want a handshake. We know you and we can see you,'' Dr Ruto said when he addressed mourners in Kiambu county during the funeral service of Pauline Nyokabi, the sister of Minister of Commerce Moses Kuria.

Ruto: I will not be intimidated

The sparks of words between the two leaders broke the short-term good relationship between the two leaders which led to Raila Odinga's people welcoming President Ruto during his visit to Nyanza.

 Speaking about the protest meetings organized by Raila Odinga, President Ruto said that the opposition leader was planning to use his political support to benefit himself, his people and his family.

"All these protests they are doing are not about the people, they are doing it about their selfishness, their families and their businesses, Ruto was quoted as saying.

The country's leader declared that he is not a man to be intimidated and vowed that his government will face any attempts to disrupt peace and instability.

What do these sparks of words signify?

Just three months after the court ruled on the controversial presidential election, and Kenyans decided to continue with their normal lives even after the differences between them, sirens of political confrontation have started to be heard.

This confrontation between two leaders with great political influence in Kenya may incite political struggles between their followers, divide the nation into different political factions and thus spark another political debate about the leadership of the nation with four years left to go of another presidential election to be held.

Analysis

But according to a political analyst in Kenya who did not want to be named, Raila Odinga's statement is based on President William Ruto's statement that some leaders in the previous government had a plot to kill the former chairman of the election commission in IEBC, Wafula Chebukati.

The analyst says that Raila's action was aimed at responding to William Ruto's remarks and that the call for protests against the government will not go away as many Kenyans would not like to get involved in issues that would further perpetuate the difficult economic situation.

"The issues that Raila is presenting are out of date, but the government will give him an agenda if they use tear gas in his meeting on Sunday", he concluded.

The effects of anti-government protests

In 2017, after Kenya participated in a controversial election that led to the high court canceling it and calling for a repeat of the election, the opposition leader Raila Odinga called a protest against the repeat, giving the conditions for the election. Among his conditions, Mr. Raila Odinga asked for changes in the election commission, which was heavily criticized for the results of the election.

Likewise, the annulment of the election was expected to provide an opportunity to strengthen democracy in a nation where every election was plagued by conflict.

However, the commission announced a new election date without taking into account the amendment, a move that pressured the opposition leader to boycott the repeat election and instead call for protests across the country on the day the election would be held.

Such a call is repeated after the 2022 election where the commission needs new commissioners after the term of office of three commissioners led by Wafula Chebukati has ended while the other three resigned following allegations that they had a plot to change the election results in favor of Raila Odinga

However, the 2017 re-election was held as planned after the existing government strengthened security in all polling stations despite being boycotted by opposition leaders.

And after announcing President Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner of the repeat election, Raila continued his call for protests that included boycotting several products in the country.

The protests that caused deaths and violence among the supporters of Mr. Odinga and those of Uhuru Kenyatta stopped business in the center of Nairobi and affected the economy.

Some businesses and companies providing their services in the center of the city were forced to close while many workers lost their jobs, a situation that affected the economy to a large extent.

The dire situation drove away investors and affected the tourism industry for a long time.

Such a bad situation was reported during the post-election protests in 2007 where thousands of Kenyans lost their lives, the economy was affected and the cost of living rose as investors and tourists left and went to countries that are more attractive to them.

Those pressures after the 2017 election however bore fruit in the end after former president Uhuru Kenyatta met with opposition leader Raila Odinga in what was called a 'handshake'.

The meeting between the two leaders finally witnessed peace in the country and political reconciliation.

After the 2022 election that allowed President William Ruto to be the legitimate winner of the election, Opposition leader Raila Odinga filed an objection in court claiming that the electoral commission was involved in manipulating the results of the election in favor of his opponent William Ruto.

However, the high court approved the results of the IEBC election commission and gave victory to Mr. William Ruto, a decision opposed by Raila Odinga and the opposition.

And while Kenyans continue to be swayed in the political tide between these leaders, the question is who will fight for the high cost of living, their basic rights and unemployment.

Is this political crisis a continuation of the current problems?