Opposition Chief Raila Odinga’s Azimio coalition has hinted that street protests will resume on Thursday if a key meeting on Tuesday fails to resolve sticking issues.
The opposition, which called off the protests to allow for dialogue, is at odds with Kenya Kwanza over whether the talks should take place inside or outside Parliament.
The framework of the talks, including whether they should be extra-parliamentary or parliamentary, is one of the issues to be resolved during a meeting of the 14-member team on Tuesday.
The other issue is the composition of the dialogue committee, with Azimio insisting that Eldas MP Adan Keynan, a Jubilee party member, be excluded from the Kenya Kwanza team.
The Kenya Kwanza has responded to the demand by insisting that Pokot South MP David Pkosing’ be removed from the Azimio team as well, as his party, the Kenya Union Party, has a working arrangement with the government.
Wycliffe Oparanya, chairman of Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Executive Council, stated that if Kenya Kwanza does not replace Keynan, protests will resume on Thursday.
He stated that they had given Kenya Kwanza until Tuesday to replace the Jubilee MP.
“The talks were to be concluded within 30 days. By then, they should have addressed the issue of opening the server which will tell who won the election. If we won, we proceed to form the government,” the former Kakamega governor said.
Jubilee Party Secretary-General, Jeremiah Kioni, said the opposition cannot abandon what it has already started “since the government is taking the talks as a joke”.
He stated that the protests would resume once Raila returns.
“We continue the town hall meetings next week. When Baba (Raila) is back, we will release a schedule for the demonstrations,” he said.
“These people… are misleading Kenyans that the country is broke and can’t pay civil servants. They want the country to collapse.”
Raila left the country on Friday for Dubai, but his return date is unknown.
Dennis Onyango, his spokesman, told the Sunday Nation that Raila would be away “for a few days.”
“The announcement on the resumption of the talks after Ramadhan was made. I have not heard anything to the contrary,” Onyango said.
On Saturday, President William Ruto stated that he is not ready for talks outside of parliament and urged the opposition to follow the law.
