This photo was taken in 2023. I was called for a one-on-one meeting with Raila Odinga. He wanted to hear what they should do differently in the protests Azimio had announced. We're not strangers; l was part of the Azimio 2022 presidential campaign team. I helped him think through their strategy, and that same evening l sent a document. When Azimio protests succeeded, Raila was called for a meeting with Ruto, and they started working together. That was in 2023. The people who were in the streets in 2023 were left with nothing. Raila is a master of handshakes. Those who died were buried by their relatives. Those who were injured were neglected. This is what Raila did with President Moi, Kibaki, Uhuru, and now Ruto. He doesn’t care for those who pay the price for his handshakes. We learnt our lessons from Raila’s betrayal. A year later, in June 2024, we decided to go back to the streets. The leaderless, partyless, and tribeless slogan was deliberate; we were a national, united movement. We didn’t want anyone to emerge and claim they speak for the entire movement. Our leader was the Constitution. We practiced distributed leadership, some led, some spoke, some mobilised, and we had agreed objectives. When June 25th 2025 happened, and we were called “treasonous”, some of the key people in organising the protests were targeted. Raila reached out to us through one of his children, asking what he should do? In good faith, we shared ideas, and even wrote a speech for him to condemn the killing of peaceful protestors, demand justice, and ask that the police respect the right to protest. After peaceful protestors were murdered, we moved from "Reject Finance Bill" to "Ruto Must Go". Ruto reached out for a meeting with me, personally, three times and l refused. That’s when we got intel that Ruto was going to offer Raila cabinet positions and his full support for the AUC chairmanship. I wrote about that, here is the link: Twitter: https://x.com/bonifacemwangi/status/1810586873636549093 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15khChWB6n/?mibextid=wwXIfr We sent messages for Raila to say no because Ruto had lost legitimacy, and it was only a matter of time before he was forced out. He was alone. The ground was hostile to anyone who was supporting the butcher of the children of Kenya. Ruto deployed the military and fired his cabinet, he was desperate. He sent the NIS boss to bribe, cajole, and blackmail politicians not to abandon his sinking boat. When Raila joined Ruto, he bought him time and that punctured the movement. That betrayal hurt. Deeply. We cursed. We swore to ensure that he pays. That betrayal did not stop us from organising to give the heroes who died a dignified send-off. Kenyans raised money to bury our dead shujaas. They paid their hospital bills and mourned with their families. That kind of love and solidarity has never been seen before in the history of this country. We even held a concert to celebrate our heroes on 7th July 2024. The plan was to hold a concert in every county, but no governor would give us grounds since the political class had come together to ensure the Gen Z (Zote) movement doesn’t succeed. Although the street protests were impacted by Raila’s betrayal, the unity of the eating class, the murders, and the abductions the movement didn’t die. We are still speaking in one voice. We raised our voices against abductions. Those MPs who betrayed us are unwelcome in their villages. We organised to ensure Raila lost the AUC chairmanship. He did. We are working hard to ensure anyone who supports Ruto’s murderous regime goes home. Ruto and Raila supporters will try and turn this loss into a tribal issue, it is not as it never was. Raila was Kenya’s candidate, not a luo candidate. The majority of Kenyans wanted him to lose, and he did. Every politician who thought they could benefit by endorsing him did so. Everyone who took part in the 2024 protests believes that we must get rid of the current political class and vote in leaders who care about us. Those who won’t abduct and murder us for demanding better. Raila’s loss is Ruto’s loss, but Gen Z's win. He deserves the loss for betraying us. Last year, we proved that our unity can liberate our country, and we shall continue! Ps: None of the women in the movement sold out. They’re still solid, organising daily to send Ruto home. Ruto cannot kill us, and lead us. #rutomustgo