Okiya Omtatah Says He Joined Protesters to Stop March to State House: "They'd Be Killed"
- Busia senator Okiya Omtatah disapproved of the resolve by the protesters to storm State House, Nairobi, on June 25
- He said such a move would have occasioned a bloodbath worse than last year's during the anti-finance bill protests
- Omtata revealed that the sole purpose of his presence at the protests was to immobilise the idea of marching to State House with the intent of deposing President Ruto
Busia senator Okiya Omtatah says the idea by protesters to storm State House, Nairobi, to depose President William Ruto was suicidal.
Source: UGC
Storming the president's official residence had been marked as the culmination of the June 25th protests.
Why march to State House wasn't good idea - Omtatah
According to Omtatah, the move, if actualised, would have caused a serious bloodbath, more serious than the one experienced outside parliament last year at the height of the anti-finance bill protests.
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"There was a very big pressure from people to march to the State House. One of the reasons I was sitting down and distracting the crowd was to stop that march because I knew people were going to be killed, and I didn't want other lives lost when we were just commemorating the deaths of others," Omtatah said.
Omtatah further expressed concerns that the revolution was mutating into an uprising that would cause more harm.
According to him, the citizenry ought to manage its anger against the regime and partake in viable means to effect the much-needed change.
Marching to the State House would be the culmination of an irredeemable insurgency, Omtatah said, warning that the aftereffects would be more detrimental than how things are currently, drawing instances from countries like Sudan.
Omtatah added that the spring would be counterproductive, as organised elite but malicious groups would come over to fill the power vacuum.
"Kenya should avoid an uprising. We should have a revolution. This anger must be channelled into a revolution. Not to an uprising. Because the danger of an uprising is that it scales. Organised groups will come in and take state power. You can see how Sudan is. Sudan was not able to harness the anger of the people... The crowd was to march to the State House, and then people would be shot... And then the power is taken in a chaotic manner. You don't know what will result. You can end up jumping from the frying pan to the fire, as they say. So it was important that we manage this anger," he said.
Source: Twitter
How can Kenyans effect regime change?
Elsewhere, Omtatah warned Kenyans against extralegal means to remove Ruto from office.
According to the litigious senator, the constitutionally recognised means is what the public ought to acquaint themselves with in the pursuit of governance change.
Omtatah said there would be no other arsenal besides the voter's card that Kenyans will use to actualise regime change.
He counselled the public to prepare adequately with the voting cards and also be ready to guard their votes at the polling stations.
"And once you are registered as voters, we prefer to go to elections and make sure we are monitoring each election. Even a simple thing like demanding that all polling stations, when the IEBC publishes them, must publish them with the GPS coordinates. So that we can go, in every ward, we can say, Okay, in this ward, these are the polling stations," Omtatah said.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
