Gachagua Wants Ruto To Drop Key Agenda In Bipartisan Talks

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Sunday, September 10 yet again expressed his reservations on some of the agenda items submitted for discussion by Azimio la Umoja in the ongoing bipartisan talks.

Speaking during a church service in Laare, Meru County, Gachagua expressed his dissent at the opposition's demands to have the results of the 2022 presidential elections be subjected to an audit.

The Deputy President asked President William Ruto to ensure that the agenda is totally dropped from the talks, claiming that the committee does not have the powers to deliberate on the issue which was even decided upon by the Supreme Court.

"Your Excellency you know I and many people, your supporters, in millions, were against these talks with Azimio people but when you decided we talk, we don't argue with you, we agreed.

"But we don't agree with the agenda in the talks. How will they audit the 2022 general elections? Those people don't have the capacity and there's no constitutional provision for that," Gachagua disagreed. 

Gachagua stressed that the Constitution of Kenya does not give anybody or any agency the power to audit the results of a presidential election.

According to the second in command, both Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kimani Ichung'wah who are co-chairing the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) messed up by including the issue as part of the talks agenda in the first place.

Gachagua opined that the discussion should have been shelved after the Supreme Court of Kenya rendered its verdict on the matter.

"The audit was done by the Supreme Court, the decision was made and you were sworn in as president.

"We don't agree with that and would want to ask the agenda be dropped from those talks. We are encouraging bad habits paying attention to them," he urged.

Speaking after his Deputy, President William Ruto steered clear of the matter and spoke instead regarding matters such as anti-government protests, national unity and businesses' prosperity.

While the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition was initially opposed to discussing the auditing of the presidential election results, the two giant political factions reached an agreement and the item is now firmly part and parcel of the ceasefire talks.

Kalonzo on Friday, September 1 announced that NADCO agreed to prioritize electoral and justice-related matters as part of five issues classified as priority in the talks.

The second and third issues involved outstanding constitutional matters and fidelity to political parties and coalitions.

The last two priority issues dealt with entrenching funds into the constitution and the establishment and entrenchment of state officers.

The committee has until the end of October to present its findings to the President and Azimio la Umoja Leader Raila Odinga as well as the general public.