Constituent parties of the Azimio Coalition are reorganizing themselves to take up the role of the official opposition after members of one of their parties joined the government.
Officials of the Wiper Democratic Party, Jubilee and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) who addressed the media in Embu Sunday morning said they had to reorganise to provide the country with a viable official opposition to prevent the country from sliding into a dictatorship.
Azimio luminaries led by Wiper Democratic Movement Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni and Eugene Wamalwa of DAP said each of their parties had held their national executive council meetings and resolved to remain with the people of Kenya who were opposed to the imposition of higher taxes.
The leaders were joined by former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu who said he represented a section of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) who were unhappy with the way the ruling party was running the country and had decided to team up with the opposition to press for better governance.
Kalonzo, who is the designated leader of the reorganized coalition, said they had chosen to be on the side of the youth who successfully pressed for the nullification of the 2024 Finance Bill and said they will resist any attempts to increase taxes that had been proposed in the impugned Bill.
“We have seen the government sneak in new taxes such as the revised Road Maintenance Levy and increased electricity charges and these are things we cannot allow,” Kalonzo said.
Kalonzo also said they were opposed to the introduction of toll charges on old highways as proposed by the Government.
They rallied Kenyans to be vigilant to prevent the country from sliding into a dictatorship saying that with Parliament virtually captured by the executive, it was easy for the government to pass laws that were oppressive to the citizens.
Saying they wished ODM leader, Raila Odinga, well in his quest to become African Union Commission Chair, the leaders said it was untenable that he remained the opposition coalition’s leader after some members of his party joined the government.
Kalonzo said the coalition’s governing council will be meeting tomorrow to determine who will be the official opposition leader in Parliament as members of the ODM party cannot be in Government and hold the position at the same time.
Accusing the Kenya Kwanza government of losing the plot in the country’s development agenda, Kalonzo asked Kenyans to continue pressing the government to stop the culture of deceit in the country’s politics where leaders promise things on the stumps then they do the opposite while in power.
He cited the education sector which he said was in a shambles “with a new funding model that has brought confusion and uncertainty.”
Kalonzo said Kenya had a blueprint for development called Vision 2030 that appeared to have been abandoned.
“They do not talk about that anymore,” he said.
