(Bloomberg) -- Kenya’s main opposition coalition said it won’t join any coalition with a grouping led by President William Ruto.
“The Azimio-OKA coalition will not be part of the proposed broad-based or any other government with the Kenya Kwanza coalition,” it said in an emailed statement following a meeting of the groups on Wednesday.
It called for a “people-driven national constitutional convention as a possible pathway towards the resolution of the national crisis subject to the consensus and concurrence of other stakeholders.”
At least 53 people have died and more than 400 have been hurt since the protests erupted in mid-June over the government’s plan to introduce levies on items ranging from bread to diapers, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
Ruto sought to quell the protests by scrapping the proposed taxes, after demonstrators stormed parliament on June 25. He’s also sacked almost his entire cabinet and accepted the resignation of the chief of police in response to the demonstrations.
The coalition called for the apprehension of “rogue officers responsible for the shootings, maiming and killing of peaceful demonstrators,” and that all “abducted Kenyans be unconditionally released.”
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