Ichung'wah: Why Kenya Kwanza Wants Start Of Bipartisan Talks Postponed

The Kenya Kwanza side of the bipartisan talks now wants the fresh talks with Azimio la Umoja to start on a different date instead of Monday, August 7, the date set as the ultimatum by Azimio to commence the talks.

In a letter signed by National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung'wah, the Kenya Kwanza camp noted that it was engaging in preparations to commence the talks having recently formed its negotiations team.

Ichung'wah thus pleaded with Azimio to reschedule the date of their first bilateral talks to Thursday, August 10.

"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 8th August 2023.

"We, therefore, seek your kind indulgence and propose that we schedule a joint first meeting on Thursday 10th August 2023 at 10 am," read the letter in part.

Ichung'wah however noted that their inability to appear for the talks on Monday, August 7 should not be taken as a meaning that they were not committed to a dialogue.

President William Ruto's team also rejected Azimio's proposal to hold their first talks at Serena Hotel in Nairobi as part of austerity measures to mitigate the high cost of living at the moment and proposed that the talks should be held in government institutions.

"We respectfully request your team to allow the two teams to schedule our meetings at public venues such as County Hall which I would be happy to engage the Parliamentary Service Commission to make available or in the alternative at the School of Government- Kabete.

"Your Excellency Sir, it is our considered view that these are venues that will not occasion 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- Nairobi," added the letter.

Kenya Kwanza added that in any case, since the coalitions are only discussing matters that concern the people of Kenya, it is believed that such matters should be in open public spaces.

Ichung'wah argued that open debate and discussions would be ideal since the issues they will be discussing are those of public interest, including what he termed as the reckless accumulation of public debt, cognizant of the prevailing economic conditions and the need for austerity measures both at an individual and collective level.

"We firmly believe that through this dialogue, as courageous patriots, we shall restore the faith of our nation's people in democratic ideals and put behind our country's history of the cyclic culture of violence and impunity, entrench a culture of respect to the rule of law and constitutionalism. For that matter, we shall not be available to engage on any issues that are of personal or private nature whatsoever.

"Further, Kenya being a constitutional democracy, we strongly believe in the rule of law and our position is that this dialogue will be conducted within the parameters of the Constitution and the existing laws," Ichung'wah asserted.

The Kikuyu MP acknowledged and appreciated the perils Kenya suffered as a result of operating outside the parameters of the Law and the Constitution and respectfully committed not to participating in any manner on any issue that undermines any arm of government or undermines any decisions that have been made thereof by any arm of government or undermines the country's laws and the Constitution.

On Thursday, August 3, the opposition's dialogue team, led by Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka demanded that the talks start on Monday, August 7, at the Serena Hotel.

"We have taken this step because we believe time is of the essence. While a lot of hard work will be needed to resolve the issues at hand, we believe a speedy start and a time-bound program are necessary to put the nation at ease. Consequently, we believe this process should come to an end at the close of August 2023, " read the letter in part addressed to National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichung'wah.

Azimio further expressed that if all goes well, the talks would be successfully completed before Friday, September 1, adding that Kenya would be reunited by then.