Kenyan Opposition Plans Further Protests Against President

Kenya’s main opposition alliance is pressing its campaign against Uhuru Kenyatta, saying it will hold an event to commemorate victims of political violence on Tuesday, the day he is scheduled to be sworn in for a second term as president.

The National Super Alliance will also convene a so-called people’s assembly next month to chart the country’s “political destiny,” Musalia Mudavadi, one of the principals in the four-party coalition, said in a statement emailed Saturday from the capital, Nairobi.

The government has warned county legislators that it considers such gatherings illegal. Twelve of 19 pro-opposition counties have already endorsed the formation of people’s assemblies and back the opposition’s repudiation of Kenyatta’s victory, the Nairobi-based Star newspaper reported on Saturday, citing people it didn’t identify.

“The sovereignty of the people enshrined in our constitution means that the people are the architects of the state,” Mudavadi said. “If leaders consistently abuse power, if checks and balances do not work as they should, then the people are compelled to go back to the drawing board. The people’s assembly is that drawing board.”

Opposition leader Raila Odinga denounced Kenyatta’s victory in last month’s repeat election as a sham. He withdrew from the race and urged a boycott after the Supreme Court court rejected petitions challenging the validity of the rerun, in which Kenyatta got 98 percent of the ballots.

The opposition also accused Kenyatta and his supporters of rigging the first election in August. The Supreme Court nullified the vote, citing irregularities.

The alliance has pledged a sustained civic action, along with a boycott of products and services offered by companies including Safaricom Ltd., East Africa’s biggest mobile operator, and Brookside Dairies Ltd., which is part-owned by the Kenyatta family.