NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 20-The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has waded into the mediation talks aimed at ironing the differences between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto.
NCIC Chairman Samuel Kobia said the commission is in talks with the Catholic Church which offered to reconcile the open disagreement between the two leaders.
“As NCIC we have the mandate to help and bring about harmony in the country. We are in dialogue with the catholic church as well as others who have offered themselves to reconcile the President and his deputy,” he said.
President Kenyatta and Ruto have been at loggerheads since March 2018 when the head of state shook hands with Opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Ruto later accused Kenyatta of working with Odinga to edge him out of the 2022 succession race, particularly when the two leaders started an initiative to change the Constitution through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which was thrown out by the courts.
Speaking to the Media, the NCIC chair explained that it is within their mandate to focus their energies in reconciling the president and his deputy as it has a ripple effect in the harmony of the country.
“We shall work together to see what needs to be done to ensure we have a peaceful country even as we head to next year’s elections,”Kobia said.
The sentiments coming days after the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) offered to reconcile the two leaders saying their fallout is already causing anxiety and has the potential to spark political violence.
“As Church leaders we are ready to step in and mediate a working arrangement between the two leaders that our Country badly needs as provided by the Constitution,” the bishops said.
Already, Ruto has welcomed the Catholic Church offer to mediate the rift between him and the president.
Ruto said he is ready for the talks and won’t set any conditions because “President Uhuru Kenyatta is my boss and we were elected together.”
“Church leaders have said they want to reconcile us with the president, I am ready early in the morning with no condition because I respect the president. He is my boss,” Ruto said last week in his official residence in Karen when he addressed a delegation.
Differences between President Kenyatta and his Deputy Ruto escalated soon after the Head of State shook hands with Odinga in March 2018 when they buried the hatchet following a divisive election in 2017.
With eleven months to the 2022 general elections, the NCIC has raised concerns over the political intolerance cases witnessed in the country.
In particular, they pointed out the recent mayhem witnessed in Migori county after rowdy youths stormed a meeting held by ODM presidential ticket hopeful Jimmy Wanjigi and hurled stones at him while others attacked his supporters with crude weapons.
NCIC has said it is developing a political decency charter document that will bind politicians to adhere to political tolerance as they campaign in different parts in the country.
“The political decency charter that we are working on is a way of binding political leaders in the country to commit themselves to peaceful campaigns in the country and to reign their followers to ensure political tolerance,” Kobia noted
Given the recent cases of political intolerance, the NCIC has stated that it is working with the office of the Director of Public Prosecution with the interest of curbing such cases.