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Executive’s overreach, Parliament’s weakness to blame for protest tragedies — Kioni

Executive’s overreach, Parliament’s weakness to blame for protest tragedies — Kioni
Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni/PHOTO/Kioni X
In Summary

Koni accused MPs of selling out to the executive and failing to hold it accountable, contrasting the current state of affairs with past administrations under Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta

Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni has blamed both the executive and Parliament for the deaths and injuries witnessed during recent anti-government protests, saying their failure to act in the interest of Kenyans pushed citizens to the streets.

Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation on Thursday morning, Kioni said that the country’s leadership had failed to respond to public concerns, and that Parliament had lost its moral authority and power to check the executive.

“A combination of both the executive and Parliament has caused the rise of Kenyans. Those Kenyans who’ve died, they’ve died because of a very ineffective Parliament, but also because of an executive that completely overreached, used brutal force and behaved irresponsibly,” he said.

The former Ndaragwa MP said that Kenyans took to the streets out of desperation, yet this could have been avoided if members of Parliament used their voting power to block budgets that were not in line with public needs.

“For example, we are seeing that the cost of medication is too high. Children are not going to school, and you have a budget that is giving 2.7 billion to State House — as members of Parliament, you refuse to pass it. It is that simple,” he said.

Kioni noted that despite overwhelming public opposition to the 2024 Finance Bill, over 95 percent of MPs still voted in favour of it, ignoring the voices of the people they were elected to represent.

“Parliament is, in the opinion of Kenyans, very compromised. Does this Parliament have the power, and also the moral authority, to go back to President Ruto and tell him what the ground is saying?” he posed.

Going further, he accused MPs of selling out to the executive and failing to hold it accountable, contrasting the current state of affairs with past administrations under Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.

Kioni recalled how under Kibaki’s leadership, MPs were respected, engaged directly on key decisions, and were never summoned to State House to be pressured into decisions.

“Kibaki was so keen on Parliament that he would meet us in his boardroom on the second floor of Harambee House. He involved us in the delivery of government programs,” he said.

The SG added that while Uhuru Kenyatta may not have gone as far in explaining budget details, he never tried to weaken opposition voices in Parliament but instead looked for ways to work with them, especially during the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process.

Kioni argued that the erosion of Parliament’s independence has enabled the executive to act with impunity, pushing citizens to the edge. He warned that unless Parliament reclaims its role, public frustration will continue to rise.

“It’s the executive’s bad manners that eat into Parliament. It’s the lack of spine for members of Parliament that has let us down to where we are,” he said.

His remarks come amid a rising national toll following recent protests, which the government has labelled as acts of criminality. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that 42 people have died and nearly 600 were injured during the June 25 and July 7 unrests. Of those injured, 496 were police officers.

Murkomen said the violence was orchestrated and targeted innocent citizens and private businesses, pushing many into sudden poverty.

Rights groups including the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights say at least 130 people are still nursing injuries, either at home or in hospitals, with many of the fatalities being young people under the age of 25.

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