President William Ruto’s team in the proposed bi-partisan talks with a group representing Raila Odinga has rejected a proposal to hold the talks at the five-star Serena Hotel to discuss the skyrocketing cost of basic commodities.
The ruling alliance Friday August 4, 2023 suggested that the first joint meeting by the two teams be held on Thursday and not on Monday that was proposed by the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
Kenya Kwanza Alliance team leader and National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah insisted his team would not engage on matters outside existing law or ones that undermine any arm of government, suggesting rejection of talks on cost of living (Finance Act 2023, which is currently before courts), audit of the 2022 presidential election results and interference with political parties that have been proposed by the opposition.
In a letter to Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, the opposition’s lead negotiator in the crisis talks, the ruling alliance has also rejected Serena as a venue for the talks, describing it as luxurious and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Mr Musyoka had proposed the venue famous for hosting crisis talks that hammered out a truce following the 2007/2008 post-election violence
Instead, Mr Ichung’wah wants the meeting to be held in a public venue to avoid engaging on issues that are “personal or private in nature.”
“While appreciating the urgency to embark on the talks, it is worth noting that having just constituted our team, we had a scheduled debrief on Monday with our team in order to prepare for the talks and a further engagement with the bi-partisan team and their assisting counsels on Tuesday August 8, 2023,” said Mr Ichung’wah in the letter.
He added, “We therefore seek your kind indulgence and propose that we schedule a joint first meeting on Thursday August 10, 2023 at 10am.”
He has suggested that the meeting be held at County Hall through facilitation by the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) or at the school of government in Kabete.
“It is in our considered view that these venues will not cause any additional expenditure to the public and which would otherwise be available for such public meetings at little or no cost to us or to the Kenyan taxpayers as opposed to the luxurious five star Serena Hotel,” said the Majority Leader.
Mr Ichung’wah said President Ruto’s administration is struggling with public debt, and cannot afford to have the meeting in hotels that would require taxpayers’ money.
“Considering that the Kenya Kwanza administration is on record committing to the Kenyan people to check on excessive borrowing that has previously led to reckless accumulation of public debt, cognizant of the prevailing economic conditions and the need for austerity measures both at individual and collective level, with the view of mitigating the high cost of living…,” he stated.
This as he reiterated that his team will not be “available to engage on any issues that are of personal or private nature whatsoever” adding that the dialogue has to be conducted within the parameters of the Constitution and the existing law.
He said, “Therefore, respectfully, we will not participate in any manner on any issue that undermines any arm of government or undermines our laws and the constitution.”
Mr Musyoka in his letter to Mr Ichung’wah indicated that their items of discussions remain the cost of living, audit of the 2022 presidential election results, restructuring and reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and related matters, measures to prevent interference with political parties, and outstanding constitutional matters.
But President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance insists on an agenda comprising reconstitution of IEBC, implementation of the two-third gender rule, entrenchment of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), establishment and the entrenchment of Office of the Leader of Opposition and embedment of the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary.
…
Read More: Ichung’wah to Azimio: We can’t meet in 5-star hotel to discuss cost of living
