Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said that the failure to implement the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report in good time may have contributed to the eruption of the Gen Z-led protests that rocked Kenya in 2024.

He also revealed that he deliberately stepped back from the demonstrations after young people asked him to let them lead the push for reforms.

Speaking to NTV at his Karen home on Sunday, Raila noted that the issues raised by Gen Z protestors in June 2024 were the same grievances the opposition had been highlighting a year earlier.

He said the unrest could have been avoided had the government acted swiftly on the recommendations of the Nadco report.

“If the Nadco report had been implemented earlier, we would not have ended up with the Gen Z protests because the issues the youth were raising were the ones that we were raising the previous year,” he said.

Thousands of young Kenyans took to the streets in mid-2024 to protest against the Finance Bill and push for better governance, economic justice and police accountability. During the protests, some youth urged Raila to step aside and let them take charge of the movement.

Raila on Sunday said he honoured their request and watched from the sidelines as the protests unfolded.

“The youth said that they were out to finish the job, they asked me to stay home and I did respect their wishes and I stayed home and they went further than we had gone,” he said. “They stormed Parliament, they even stormed the Judiciary, they were on their way to State House when they were blocked by the forces,” he added.

The ODM leader also made it clear that while he is currently supporting President William Ruto’s administration to maintain national stability, this cooperation is not a permanent arrangement.

He said the ongoing collaboration should not be mistaken for a political alliance that will extend beyond the current term.

“We have said that we are in the broad-based government until 2027. We did not say that we are going to work with UDA beyond 2027. Those are issues that we will discuss at the appropriate time, and the decision will be made by party members, not Raila Odinga alone,” he said.

He explained that the decision to back the government followed the deadly protests of 2023, during which opposition supporters clashed with security forces while demanding electoral reforms, lower cost of living, and an end to corruption.

“In 2023, we were in the streets raising very concrete issues about electoral justice, cost of living and corruption. The government responded with brutality, and we lost about 70 people. When we tried to honour them, no judge allowed us to hold a memorial. We eventually did it quietly,” Raila said.

He insisted that his focus is on ensuring the government delivers its promises by 2027, and discussions on the next general election will only happen at the right time.