Raila's Azimio rejects House-led bipartisan talks
Azimio la Umoja coalition leaders led by Raila Odinga (centre), Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka (left) and Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua (right) joined by other leaders during a press briefing on scheduled bipartisan talks with the Kenya Kwanza Government among other demands at Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (SKM) Command Center, Nairobi April 18, 2023.
The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party has opposed a motion by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa seeking to create a bipartisan committee in the House and vowed to resume weekly mass protests starting next week.
The coalition that is led by Mr Raila Odinga has accused the Kenya Kwanza House leadership of failing to show good faith in the entire process and presenting the motion without consulting their leaders in parliament.
In a statement read by Wiper Democratic Movement party leader Kalonzo Musyoka yesterday, Azimio insisted that it will only participate in the process outside the House “in view of the strictures of debate in Parliament”.
“We will, therefore, not participate in any such parliamentary process. The motion is disguised as a product of bipartisanship when, in fact, the leadership of Azimio in Parliament were neither aware nor consulted in its drafting,” Mr Musyoka said.
The motion drafted by Mr Ichung’wa only sticks to the issues that President William Ruto gave as a condition for the bipartisan engagement, which is the reconstitution of the selection panel tasked with the recruitment of Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners.
The draft motion also indicates that the bipartisan talks will be carried out through parliament and will follow the parliamentary process and procedures. This includes having the sittings recorded in the Hansard and being guided by the parliamentary standing orders.
At the end of the 90 days, the Joint Select Committee shall draft a report that will be used to create bills that will be presented to Parliament for consideration.
Opposed motion
The Azimio team yesterday opposed the motion for failing to capture the key issues raised by the coalition.
This includes the reduction of the cost of living, opening and auditing of the IEBC servers, reinstatement of four IEBC commissioners — Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Irene Masit and Justus Nyang’aya — and dealing with the party hopping in parliament.
They gave a condition that they will be part of the bipartisan talks only if the four issues are brought to the negotiation table.
“The motion purports to set the terms of reference and scope of the discussions without any reference to us. We continue to insist that the dialogue must be about all four issues; namely the cost of unga, fuel and electricity, forensic audit of the servers, bipartisan reconstitution of the IEBC and respect for multiparty democracy. Kenya Kwanza cannot dictate to us what we cannot bring to the table,” Mr Musyoka added.
The leaders also urged Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, who is the team leader of the Azimio group of negotiators, to invite the Kenya Kwanza team to set the ground for the talks between the two sides.
Another letter from Mr Ichung’wa to the clerk of the National Assembly, which Nation has seen, also sought a venue for the two rival coalitions to meet to have a conversation on the bi-partisan process.
The letter also sets tomorrow as the date for the first meeting. The letter has also been copied to Azimio politicians and invites the leaders to the meeting.
