NAIROBI, Kenya, May 22 – Azimio La Umoja Co-Principal Kalonzo Musyoka has said the opposition coalition will quit bipartisan talks if the Kanini Kega-led Jubilee faction holds National Delegates Convention (NDC) or moves to court to challenge retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Musyoka who attended the Jubilee NDC presided over by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta threatened that they will be forced to abandon the talks between Azimio Coalition and their Kenya Kwanza Alliance alluding that the move is a ridicule to democracy.
“If those who have removed themselves from the party decide to do their own delegates convention then they should know they will be no bi-partisan talks. We will leave them and know they don’t believe in plural democracy,” he said.
The Wiper Party Leader asserted that Kega led faction which has removed Kenyatta as the party leader and subsequently expelled David Murathe (Deputy Party Leader) and Jeremiah Kioni (Secretary General) should honorably exit the party and join forces with Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
“The same way they removed Keynan and replaced him.If they so like the Kega faction they should have them join Kenya Kwanza Alliance or which ever party and they proceed to go for a by election,”Musyoka stated.
“If you want the bi-partisan talks to continue from today those who have left Jubilee should respect multi democracy by allowing by election in the seats that they won,” he added.
He revealed that the Opposition Coalition had put a test to the National Police Commander Adam Bungei to disrupt the party’s NDC following which they would have quit the ongoing bilateral talks.
Musyoka maintained that the Opposition Coalition will not accept President William Ruto to drawback the efforts made to fight for multi-party democracy in the country.
Last week, the 14-member bipartisan team constituted in April to look into concerns raised by the opposition Azimio Coalition has named a 6-member group to discuss the composition of the electoral commission.
The Parliament-led group which has been holding informal talks on demands by Azimio Leader Raila Odinga named Senators Hillary Sigei (Bomet, Kenya Kwanza) and Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi, Azimio) to lead the sub-committee.
The 14-member team that has since coopeted two joint secretaries who are non-lawmakers said the 6-member party will discuss proposals on the nomination of panelists to oversee the recruitment of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners.
“The question surrounding IEBC is a common issue as you would have noticed from the two teams. We have agreed that it is one of the utmost importance and needs to be prioritized,” said Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo who co-chairs the committee.
Other members of the sub-committee are: Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo (Azimio), Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua (Azimio), Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale (Kenya Kwanza) and Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse (Kenya Kwanza).
“We expect that by the time we come back, they will have concretized thoughts around that and anyone with any idea is welcomed to share with us through our joint secretariat so that we factor them in our discussion,” said Amollo.
Odinga’s demands
The Odinga-led alliance had raised issues touching on four thematic areas while accepting President William Ruto’s offer for Parliament-led dialogue.
Azimio demanded the reinstalment of a faction of IEBC commissioners that disowned 2022 presidential election results, the reopening of election servers and inclusion in the process to fill vacancies at the poll agency.
Three of the four commissioners Azimio wants reinstated — Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi, Justus Nyang’aya — quit to avoid facing a judicial tribunal while the fourth, Irene Masit, was removed from office after she was found to have violated her mandate.
The bipartisan team reached a consensus on the framework of engagement settling on a hybrid system as a preferred mode of engagement to allow more room for public participation.
Even though the talks will be both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary the process will remain Parliament-led.
“We will have recognition of Parliament as existing and adopting its work as part and parcel of Parliament while extra-parliamentary means that we will have people who are not parliamentarians coming into the talks and discussing with us the issues in contention,” said Tharaka Nithi MP George Murugara who co-chairs the committee.
