The National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung’wah, has stated that the dialogue agreed to by President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday is not aimed at reaching a truce similar to the latter’s ceasefire with retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018.
The ‘handshake’ political truce on March 9 saw Kenyatta and Odinga agree to end their political feud, bringing to an end weeks of political violence and civil unrest over the 2017 General Election.
On Sunday, Odinga called off the bi-weekly anti-government protests he had been staging for the past two weeks, saying he is open to dialogue to address key issues the opposition has with Ruto’s government.
It followed President Ruto’s earlier appeal to Odinga to halt the protests and instead consider talks towards a bipartisan parliamentary process for the appointment of commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
One of the issues raised by the opposition with President Ruto’s administration is the formation of a new electoral body.
However, according to the majority leader, this should not be interpreted as the formation of a new “handshake.” Ichung’wah told journalists on Monday that Ruto has yet to speak with Odinga, and that their planned dialogue will be solely for “the interests of the country.”
“I can confirm that the president has not even met Raila Odinga. He has not even spoken to him, leave alone a handshake. There is nothing touching on a handshake,” the Kikuyu MP said.
“The bipartisan approach looks at the interests of the country above the partisan interests of Kenya Kwanza or Azimio.”
President Ruto met with Ichung’wah and other parliamentary leaders on Monday to establish a framework for the bipartisan parliamentary process.
Odinga issued a slew of conditions for Ruto’s administration to meet before proceeding with the talks on Sunday, including unconditional release and the withdrawal of all charges against any opposition supporter related to the protests.
The coalition also demanded the reinstatement of the four IEBC commissioners who were fired after rejecting the results of the 2022 General Election, in which William Ruto was declared president-elect.
Furthermore, the opposition stated that addressing the high cost of living is an unavoidable minimum, and urged the government to return to the subsidies used by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime to protect Kenyans from the high cost of living.
Noordin Haji, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has since withdrawn protest-related charges against six Azimio coalition leaders.
Odinga said he was ready to begin talks with the President on Monday, but threatened to resume protests if “no meaningful outcome” was reached within a week.
