Angry Gen Z dismiss ODM leader Raila Odinga as a sellout and threaten to occupy his Nairobi office while his supporters expressed shock saying the mood in the country was for President Ruto to take action on issues already identified by Kenyans and not to mock them by calling for talks.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga found him under a barrage of heavy criticism after he accepted the offer by President Ruto to participate in a ‘dialogue’ process for the next six days starting Monday next week.
The move by Raila caught his staunch supporters by surprise who expressed dismay and highly infuriated Gen Z whose party less and leaderless protests have shaken President Ruto’s young presidency to the core.
Raila confirmed that he had heard consultations with President Ruto and was of the view that the dialogue was a good opportunity to chart the way forward for the country and urged the youth and all other stakeholders to attend the talks.
Speaking at the steps of KICC on the invitation of President Ruto, Raila said, “I am happy to confirm we had consultations with the President. We have agreed that dialogue is the way forward and that we give people an opportunity to be heard.”
But Gen Z feel that Raila has joined President Ruto in an attempt to hijack their movement and slow down reforms or worse dictate the reform agenda. They threw unkind word towards Raila who has in the past supported the Gen Z movement and even criticized government’s use of lethal force while responding to the protests led by the Kenyan youths from across the country.
President Ruto was at the KICC in Nairobi to assent to the IEBC Bill 2024 where he said he welcomed every stakeholder to work with him in addressing the existential challenges and threats facing the country.
When President Ruto proposed the dialogue at the height of the protests and asked the Gen Z to nominate two representatives, the youthful protestors immediately disowned the move and vowed not to participate.
They have expressed shock that Raila has accepted to be part of the dialogue which they view as another attempt by Ruto to sweep their issues under the carpet as he tries to buy time out of the crisis.
The first to smell a rat from the “Ruto Dialogue” was Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua who dismissed the move by President Ruto as a trap.
