Azimio says 6M signatures collected so far to oust Ruto
Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya coalition says the opposition has collected more than six million signatures so far in a campaign they say is aimed at removing President William Ruto from office.
Addressing members of the press on Tuesday, Azimio co-principal Martha Karua called on Kenyans to continue submitting their signatures through the coalition's online platforms to send the Kenya Kwanza administration home.
“We are pleased to announce that as at this morning, we have hit 6 million signatures. Those are six million citizens fed up with Ruto. Let’s continue signing up at tumechoka.com, tumechoka.net,tumechoka.org,” Karua said.
The coalition had earlier announced that they were targeting to collect 10 million signatures by Friday, July 14, 2023.
However, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna later accused state operatives of frustrating the bid through attacks on their websites.
He claimed that the coalition had registered over 1,000 attacks since the sites went live.
“They are actively sabotaging the collection of signatures. They have even cloned the website to confuse our supporters,” the Nairobi senator alleged.
“We are saying Kenyans want to eat today, it does not matter how long you cover your ears from them, we will act until you hear Kenyans cry.”
Karua had in a previous interview indicated that the motive of collecting the signatures was to show how many Kenyans support Azimio's cause.
"The people will hold their own referendum of signatures so that by the time we hit a threshold of 10 million signatures, we will know a majority of Kenyans are speaking," the Narc Kenya leader told Spice FM.
"It is literally a body count of those supporting the clause."
The coalition has announced a series of anti-government demonstrations on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to protest against the high cost of living.
Led by opposition leader Raila Odinga, Azimio is also demanding repeal of the Finance Act 2023, which introduced additional taxes, as well as suspension of the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
