{"id":1802,"date":"2025-03-24T12:41:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T12:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/fred-ogola-strikes-back-anti-ruto-chants-will-keep-echoing-during-harambee-stars-matches\/"},"modified":"2025-03-24T12:41:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T12:41:56","slug":"fred-ogola-strikes-back-anti-ruto-chants-will-keep-echoing-during-harambee-stars-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/fred-ogola-strikes-back-anti-ruto-chants-will-keep-echoing-during-harambee-stars-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Ogola Strikes Back: &#8220;Anti-Ruto Chants Will Keep Echoing&#8221; During Harambee Stars Matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>\n<strong><br \/>\n   Activist and academic Fred Ogola has responded to claims that he orchestrated the anti-Ruto protests during the Kenya versus Gabon game.<br \/>\n  <\/strong>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><br \/>\n   Previously, in another video, Ogola encouraged Kenyan supporters to organize a collective demonstration during the match.<br \/>\n  <\/strong>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><br \/>\n   In an interview with LIFEHACK.co.ke, he insists the focus should be on addressing Kenyans&#8217; economic grievances rather than identifying organisers of the protests<br \/>\n  <\/strong>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n<i><br \/>\n  The LIFEHACK.co.ke correspondent Ivan Mboto boasts more than three years of expertise in covering political and contemporary issues within Kenya.<br \/>\n <\/i>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n Fred Ogala, an esteemed scholar and advocate, has addressed allegations that he was behind the anti-Ruto protests that shook Nyayo Stadium during the Harambee Stars versus Gabon game on Sunday, March 23rd.\n<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-document-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1ByQjG\" data-reference=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1ByQjG.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n A popular video prior to the match showed Ogola encouraging soccer supporters to participate in a symbolic demonstration. He can be seen directing them to begin their chant at the 6th minute and 25th second of the encounter.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n He pointed out that this particular timing held great significance, representing what he called the erosion of Kenya\u2019s newfound independence for those advocating for an inclusive administration following the discussions led by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO).\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n \u201cWhen it reaches the sixth minute, 25th second, start shouting until the stadium gets wild. Why? Because that is the day that our independence after impeaching Parliament was taken by the broad-based government proponents,&#8221; he was heard saying.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n In comparing it to Spain, Ogola mentioned the custom where Catalans demonstrate their opposition to the Spanish government during El Cl\u00e1sico matches.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n He shared that during his five-year stay in Barcelona, every time Real Madrid played against Barcelona, at exactly 17 minutes and 14 seconds into the game, supporters would create a commotion to mark the year 1714 when Catalans lost their autonomy to Spain.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"post__embedded post__embedded--twitter js-embed\">\n<div>\n<span data-embed-id=\"b38160467c554cc88b7218fd963eb6cd\" data-embed-type=\"social-auto\"><br \/>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>\n Was Fred Ogola responsible for the anti-Ruto slogans at Nyayo Stadium?<br \/>\n<\/h2>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n Speaking to<br \/>\n <strong><br \/>\n  LIFEHACK.co.ke<br \/>\n <\/strong><br \/>\n Ogola refuted assertions that he alone was accountable for the chants, asserting that millions of Kenyans hold comparable views regarding President William Ruto\u2019s leadership.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n Regarding the claims that I was one of the organizers behind the chants, allow me to state that numerous individuals, possibly as high as 53 million Kenyans, share this viewpoint. Thus, whether or not I organized them doesn\u2019t really matter. What truly matters is that people believe the president ought to step down,&#8221; he stated.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n He explained that his purpose was solely to demonstrate how these demonstrations can occur during games, based on his five-year residency in Barcelona.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n &#8220;I saw people using social forums to express their feelings, and I am happy Kenyans came out in large numbers to do so,&#8221; he added.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-document-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1ByQjI\" data-reference=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1ByQjI.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n Ogola likewise downplayed efforts aimed at pinpointing the organizers, encouraging people instead to tackle the urgent economic issues confronting Kenyan citizens.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n If they claim it\u2019s about me, then who organized the event in Naivasha?&#8221; he questioned. &#8220;Instead of focusing on who the organizers are, they should address the core issues at hand. Kenyans face severe economic challenges such as unemployment, excessive taxation, high living costs, and insufficient employment opportunities, yet the president is providing purely political solutions to these problems.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n He encouraged Ruto to carefully consider the underlying causes of increasing dissatisfaction among Kenyans.\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n &#8220;If solving the issue isn&#8217;t possible, the cries of &#8216;Ruto must leave&#8217; will persist, regardless of whether I was involved or not. Instead of searching for who did what and who organized what, he should address these concerns,&#8221; he stated.<br \/>\n <strong><br \/>\n  LIFEHACK.co.ke<br \/>\n <\/strong><br \/>\n .\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>\n Supporters burst into Nyayo Stadium to watch the Kenya versus Gabon game.<br \/>\n<\/h2>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n As reported elsewhere, enthusiastic supporters rushed into Nyayo National Stadium, causing damage to one of the entrances before the crucial FIFA World Cup qualifier between Kenya and Gabon. Despite drawing large crowds due to its significance, all the tickets were snapped up by Saturday night.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n Due to the restricted number of seats, numerous fans who didn\u2019t have tickets tried to enter, leading to pandemonium at the venue. Footage uploaded by reporter Seth Olale depicted throngs pushing their way into the stands.\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">\n The match that concluded with a 2-1 loss for the home side was Harambee Stars&#8217; inaugural competitive home game since they beat Rwanda in 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Activist and academic Fred Ogola has responded to claims that he orchestrated the anti-Ruto protests during the Kenya versus Gabon game. Previously, in another video, Ogola encouraged Kenyan supporters to organize a collective demonstration during the match. In an interview with LIFEHACK.co.ke, he insists the focus should be on addressing Kenyans&#8217; economic grievances rather than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[457,374,316,373,360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-controversies","category-football-clubs","category-politics","category-soccer","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AA1ByNP0-1.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanggraloka.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}