After a 10-day break, Kenya's opposition coalition plans to hold another protest in Nairobi on 16 April, renewing the demands they have been making since the country's elections in August 2022.
The Azimio la Umoja-Kenya Kwanza coalition said it would rally at the Kamukunji Grounds in Nairobi on Sunday, 10 days after veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed to suspend the protests and pave the way for talks with President William Ruto.
Odinga said the coalition would continue to prepare for negotiations, but that the government had so far failed to address its demands.
"Kenyans are standing firm. We have agreed ... that talks will proceed and protests will run parallel," Odinga told a meeting of his supporters in Nairobi on Thursday.
President Ruto's supporters may try to hold counterprotests nearby, according to Kenyan media.
Security personnel will likely be deployed to monitor any rally and clashes between opposing groups of demonstrators, or between security forces and protesters, cannot be ruled out.
Protests paused
On 2 April, Odinga and his coalition announced the temporary suspension of anti-government protests that started in late March.
Ruto has called for the protests to cease, promising to meet one of the opposition's key demands and establish a bipartisan committee to review the electoral process.
But Odinga also demanded that the committee consider other issues, including a response to the rising cost of living and high taxation, as well as the removal of subsidies.
Ruto has not responded to these requests, despite his opponents' warning that protests would resume if their demands were not met.
Three people have died since Odinga called protesters to the street for the first time on 20 March, vowing to march every Monday and Thursday until their concerns were met.
The protests resulted in several clashes with security forces, with riot police firing tear gas and water cannon at demonstrators, while many businesses have been looted and some property vandalised.
Post-election turmoil
Odinga narrowly lost his fifth run for the presidency in the August vote, despite being backed by former president Uhuru Kenyatta.
According to official results, Odinga lost to Ruto by 233,000 votes, one of the smallest margins in Kenya's history.
The Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the result, with its judges giving a unanimous ruling in favour of Ruto, finding there was no evidence for Odinga's accusations that the election had been "stolen".
Kenya’s presidential elections in 2007 and 2017 were marred by serious human rights violations, including unlawful killings and beatings by police during protests and house-to-house operations in western Kenya, according to Human Rights Watch and other organisations.
At least 12 people were killed and over 100 badly injured in August 2017.
Since the East African country transitioned to a multiparty political system in the 1990s, elections have often been disputed between strong political families, including the Kenyatta and Odinga.
Voting also falls along ethnic lines, especially between the Kikuyu majority and other groups, such as Luos, to which Odinga belongs.
(with wires)
