The Kenyan Kwanza bipartisan talks team has accused their Azimio counterpart of erecting unnecessary roadblocks to fruitful negotiations.
According to the team’s chair, George Murugara, Azimio is looking for reasons to call off the talks.
“We have said this before that we need to have the talks at arm’s length, where we are all equal, in as much as we fill there are sustain roadblocks being mounted on our path, we are confident that we can surmount those roadblocks so that the talks can go on because we are committed to have fruitful talks,” he said.
Murugara stated that there are pressing issues, such as the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, that cannot be delayed for too long.
“We need to talk and agree, we need to know from them what the issue with the current law is, so that we agree on the way forward, and if it’s necessary that we change the law, we bring it to the house,” Murugara said.
Murugara said they will respond to the issues by close of business today even as they invited Co-chair Otiende Amollo for consensus reaching on Monday, next week.
“We will respond to the letter by Azimio by close of business today and we have invited the co chair for a meeting on Monday afternoon so that we are able to thrash out issues that are in contention,” he stated.
“At the end of the day, we should be able to resume talks as soon as Azimio confirms that we are ready. We are ready to resume as soon as tomorrow.”
Murugara says he will request his co-chair to attend talks to iron out outstanding issues before they resume ahead of Tuesday’s Azimio deadline.
“We haven’t said we are going to concede to any demands, neither have we said we will not accede to the demands, these are talks and will agree,” he said.
Concerned that the committee would run out of time before reaching an agreement, Murugara stated that they have a provision in the agreement to extend the time if necessary.
The truth is that when we suspend the talks, time also stops, so we still have some time to accomplish our goals.
Azimio suspended the talks on Tuesday, accusing their counterparts of insecurity and retreating to consult their principles.
