National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah has told opposition supporters not to expect a handshake between President William Ruto and Raila Odinga despite the two agreeing to a cease-fire.
This is as it emerged that Ruto and Raila secretly met on Sunday behind the backs of their lieutenants before they both announced a cease-fire on the weekly protests.
Similar talks between Raila and retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 are said to have led to the now popular ‘handshake’ which changed the course of Kenya’s politics.
On Sunday, Raila called off the bi-weekly anti-government protests he had staged for two weeks and said he is ready for dialogue to address key issues the opposition has with Ruto’s government.
“Raila you have been unfair to the people of Kenya, and we want to invite you for a meeting with President William Ruto to discuss your exit from Kenya’s political space.”
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua
His announcement followed President Ruto’s appeal urging him to stop the demonstrations and instead consider talks towards a bipartisan parliamentary process in the recruitment of commissioners to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The shocking development came just a day after Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua swore that the only discussion they would hold with Raila is about his retirement.
“Raila you have been unfair to the people of Kenya, and we want to invite you for a meeting with President William Ruto to discuss your exit from Kenya’s political space,” said Gachagua.
The formation of a new electoral body is one of the issues the opposition had raised with the Ruto administration.
But according to the majority leader, this should not be misconstrued as the formation of another ‘handshake’.
Ichung’wah told journalists on Monday that Ruto is yet to speak to Odinga, adding that their planned dialogue will only be 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.”
Odinga on Sunday issued a raft of conditions Ruto’s administration should meet going forward with the talks, such as unconditional release and withdrawal of charges against any opposition supporter related to the demonstrations.
The coalition also called on the reinstatement of the four IEBC commissioners sacked after disowning the 2022 General Election results that saw William Ruto announced president-elect.
Further, the opposition said addressing the high cost of living is an irreducible minimum, and called upon the government to go back to the subsidies applied by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s regime to cushion Kenyans from the biting cost of living.
