Who sits on truce table and what to talk about divides Azimio team

Following revelations that talks between President William Ruto and Opposition chief Raila Odinga through proxies have started, now the focus has shifted to the finer details of the deal that will broker peace.

There is simmering tension between the various formations within Azimio on whether there could be a repeat of the 2018 handshake where some principals were left out.

While there is disquiet in Azimio on whether Raila will throw them under the bus, those in the government fear the talks may culminate into a working arrangement between the opposition chief and the President which will render some irrelevant.

The question on who will represent the government and who will represent the opposition has also emerged with rifts growing about the agenda of the talks.

Possible talks

“Some of the co-principals have been left out and this is why there is discomfort in the Opposition,” a source disclosed to The Standard.

Further, the embattled Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni threw a spanner in the works by claiming that some of the opposition leaders have been plotting how to get Cabinet Secretary posts to compromise their stand in the protests.

“Some two to three leaders amongst us are not genuine and want to grab the moment to bargain for their selfish gains in the Kenya Kwanza regime and that is why we want to put things clear that the discussion must revolve around the ordinary Kenyans and not self-interest,” he said yesterday.

He likened some Azimio allied leaders to ‘gluttonous elders who go to the dowry with the intention of enjoying the traditional beer and not for dowry purposes to negotiate for the bride.’

Kioni maintained that instead of personal interests, he would push for the constitutional review to change the current mode of governance from the presidential to parliamentary system to establish the Office of the Opposition.

“Our members from the government side do not seem to have issues with the proposal and that is how then we shall give input to agitate for one man one vote one shilling, If talks will look into one person’s interests then the opposition will have nothing to tell Kenyans in future,” he said.

Former Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi said the opposition will be pushing for an electoral system, protection of the 2010 Constitution to prevent ‘further mutilation’ by the Kenya Kwanza administration and the high cost of living.

“The talks will present an opportunity for us to ask ourselves why we have been firing and hiring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yet we find ourselves with the same problems,” Muriithi said.

He revealed that the talks will also discuss the issue of ‘suspension of the Constitution’ giving rise to police brutality and failure by independent constitutional offices to discharge their mandate when offended by the State.

Institutions

“We must ask ourselves the whereabouts of agencies like Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Judiciary, among others, like the Office of Registrar of Political Parties when the fundamental rights of political parties are being oppressed,” he said.

The former governor lamented that he had been arrested and detained twice during protests but has never been charged in court because he had not broken the law by participating in a demonstration protected by the Constitution.

On the team to spearhead the talks, Muriithi maintained that the President and Raila must only be required to provide leadership which will be broad-based to come up with a process akin to the Constitutional review committee of 2010.

“This move will prevent a situation where we use public issues to demand for a sit down with the government only to present personal based issues in the committee,” he said.