Residents of Mathare slums who have been affected by the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance protests have chastised political leaders for abandoning them.

The majority of them, women and youth, say the demonstrations left them in anguish and despair rather than with the solution they desired: a low cost of livin

Slum dwellers told HAKI Africa that many children were maimed and traumatised, while women and youth were left with lifelong scars.Hall, led by Rahma Wako, accused Azimio politicians of exploiting their poverty for personal gai

"It's been a week since the last demonstration in which our children were teargassed. Many of them are still injured, and no political leader has come to find out what we went through," said Wako.She warned leaders not to exploit the poor for their selfish political gai

"None of the protests were witnessed in their neighbourhoods, where politicians from both sides of the political divide reside. None of their children were lying in the cold slabs of the mortuary, with poor parents unable to provide a decent burial," she sai

Wako accused President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga of not considering the people living in informal settlement

"We don't want them to exploit our plight in the slums by staging demonstrations. This is not a football pitch where teams compete against one another. Why don't they take their wars to their leafy suburbs?" Wako sai

She added that the high cost of living has not been addressed, despite the fact that Ruto and Raila have agreed to tal

"The real issues of high living costs and food prices have not been put on the table for negotiation. This cannot go unchallenged while poor children continue to be collateral damage for selfish politicians who ride on the realities of the working masses to advance their selfish agenda," she sai

Eunice Kalegi, a mother of four who is recovering from a deep panga cut on her hand, is grateful to be alive after goons took advantage of the situation and attacked her family after the protests ended in the evenin

She said the gang demanded money and valuables. Her 17-year-old daughter had her leg slashe

"They arrived at 7pm following the demonstration demanding money and valuables. When we refused to give in, they unleashed their rage on us with pangas," Kalegi sai

Phebe Awour said her two-month-old daughter Fabrigas Zani escaped with minor injuries after a tear gas canister exploded in their room in Mathare Namba 1

"We were inside the house when police lobbed tear gas into the girl's sleeping room through an open door. Fortunately, it rolled to the ground after hitting her before exploding," she sai

Haki Africa CEO Hussein Khalid said no meaningful talks will take place unless ordinary citizens are involved

"We want to see them involving the common people on the negotiation table for us to take them seriously. The negotiation must be centred on the needs of the mwananchi.". d.0.d.d.g.d.k.d.s.d.n.n.g.o.n.g.ars.