‘Respect the Constitution’: Kalonzo, Sifuna, Babu Owino turn heat on Ruto over crackdowns

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has accused President William Ruto of stifling the freedom of the Judiciary and right of citizens to political association in recent government crackdowns that target dissent.

Speaking on Friday in Diani, Kwale County, Kalonzo warned that this posed the threat of plunging the country into dictatorship if unchecked.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) annual conference in Diani provided the forum for a charged face-off between President Ruto's allies and the opposition.

Kalonzo led the voices of dissent against what he termed as systematic re-entrenchment of dictatorship by the Kenya Kwanza regime.

“You cannot criminalise human rights…we all know, under Article 20 of the Constitution…we imported, and this is part of our domestic law, those treaties that Kenya has been signatory to, and all those huma rights entrenched…therefore you cannot run away,” he said.

Kalonzo accused President Ruto of clamping down on voices of dissent in a deliberate clawback to the gains made in the country in advancement of democracy - an assertion amplified by leaders drawn from former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's ODM party.

ODM Secretary General and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna asked Attorney General Dorcas Oduor to convey a message to the President:

“You are preaching to the choir. The people who need that advice are not these lawyers — we know what the law is, we know what anticipatory bail means. The person you are supposed to be speaking to is your boss, because he is the one who doesn’t know what anticipatory bail means. I hope she understands the concerns that we have as a people, as lawyers, with everything that has been done by this administration to claw back on the freedoms and gains of the people.”

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino added: “To His Excellency Kalonzo Musyoka, go ye and conquer the nation. My super Senator Edwin Sifuna, continue injecting, with the syring and the needle of a camel. And to the President of the Republic of Kenya, you must respect the Constitution.”

The leaders further accused President Ruto of attempts to muzzle the Judiciary, due to its independent actions.

“All those who were dragged through the anti-terrorism court and treated like terrorists when we know the purpose Parliament intentioned in enacting the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA)…they were looking at transnational criminals like Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab,” noted Kalonzo.

This face-off now puts in jeopardy the upcoming joint Parliamentary group meeting of the ODM and the Ruto-led UDA party.