Azimio Suspends Bipartisan Talks Again After Midnight Deadline

The Azimio la Umoja coalition on Wednesday, May 31 suspended the bipartisan talks with Kenya Kwanza yet again after claiming that they were shortchanged by President William Ruto's team.

In a statement by the Committee's co-chairman, Otiende Amollo, Azimio notified the Kenya Kwanza co-char, George Murugara that the opposition coalition had frozen the talks over alleged laxity in actualising an earlier agreement.

The Rarieda Member of Parliament had accused the Kenya Kwanza representative of reneging on the consigning of a letter which was aimed at stopping the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Amollo further noted that the Ruto team refused to take action on the letter addressing the IEBC regarding the preservation of the 2022 election servers.

"Further, we also note that you have not responded to the additional matters raised in the resolutions of the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Parliamentary Group Meeting forwarded to you.

"In the circumstances, it is our considered opinion that the appropriate action is to adjourn the talks sine die, in accordance with Clause 36 of the Framework Agreement, which we hereby invoke," read the statement in part.

The statement by the Azimio team came hours after the Raila Odinga-led faction submitted the two letters to the Kenya Kwanza team for action, the letter prompted by resolutions that had been made during the Azimio la Umoja Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday, May 30.

The lawmakers resolved to compel Kenya Kwanza to act on the letters by midnight on May 30. Kenya Kwanza was yet to respond to Azimio's decision by the time of publication.

Azimio had also urged Kenya Kwanza to agree that all Jubilee Party MPs who have defected to Kenya Kwanza should resign and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.

“It is our resolution that other than merely committing not to interfere with the affairs of other parties, Kenya Kwanza must agree that all Jubilee MPs who have defected to Kenya Kwanza, in essence, have to face by-elections in line with the constitution,” Azimio stated.

The opposition coalition also demanded that the Kenya Kwanza government withdraws the Finance Bill 2023 for review, noting that it refused to allow the government to overtax Kenyans at a time vices such as corruption and irregular hiring into vital public positions were rampant.

“It is our position that the Finance Bill 2023 as presently crafted must be withdrawn and replaced by a bill that appreciates the suffering of the people of Kenya are going through. The bill must be withdrawn in totality and reintroduced afresh in a manner that is sensitive to the plight of poor Kenyans,” Azimio added.

Azimio's PG also took an extremely dim view of the purported arrogance with which the Kenya Kwanza administration allegedly wants to take billions out of the pockets of Kenyans while expecting them to cheer Kenya Kwanza's position on the Finance Bill as a 'take or leave it' scenario.

The PG also took the position that the budget proposals offer completely no support for working people and upcoming businesses and that for the taxes being levied, Kenyans are getting nothing in return.

However, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party secretary general Cleophas Malala during an interview with TV47 noted that the President would ignore the demands.

“Kenya Kwanza is the government, and Azimio should give us space to work on our promises to the people for the next five years.

“If we do not perform, they have a democratic right to try to unseat us in the next election. But we cannot have the government run by the opposition,” he stated.