Quit Bipartisan Talks- Makau Mutua To Jeremiah Kioni
Mutua argued that Kioni has no faith in the talks aimed at resolving electoral issues that emerged after the 2022 presidential elections.
Marvin Chege 
Azimio la Umoja spokesperson Professor Makau Mutua on Saturday, September 23 asked embattled Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni to resign as head of the Azimio technical team in the ongoing bipartisan talks with the Kenya Kwanza government.
In a statement, Mutua argued that Kioni has no faith in the talks aimed at resolving electoral issues that emerged after the 2022 presidential elections.
He took issue with Kioni's remarks that the talks were a "waste of time", demanding that he steps down from the technical team with immediate effect.
“My good friend Hon Kioni should with immediate effect resign as head of the Azimio technical team at the Bomas talks.
Embattled Jubilee Party Secretary General, Jeremiah Kioni at Bomas of Kenya on September 11, 2023. /JUBILEE PARTY
"He has repeatedly said the talks are a “waste of time.” He must resign unless he is a hypocrite. How can one lead a team in talks he doesn’t believe in?” he posed.
Kioni is said to have claimed the talks were going nowhere and that he would have bowed out had he been in Azimio leader Raila Odinga's position.
“We are going nowhere with these talks, but we are in support of Baba and the decision he has taken,” Kioni stated.
On Thursday, September 21, he clashed with EALA MP and UDA vice chairman, Hassan Omar after insisting that the cost of living should be part of the agenda deliberated during the talks.
During an interview with Spice FM on Friday, September 22, Kioni alleged that high taxes, the cost of fuel and the Finance Bill were still unresolved yet they are not part of the talks agenda.
"I said that I wouldn't want to sit in a situation where I feel like we are conning Kenyans. There are those who thought that shouldn't have been said but I am still saying it.
"What took us to Bomas and why people were killed was the cost of living. That's why people were demonstrating," he argued.
These sentiments did not sit well with Omar, resulting in a war of words with the former Ndaragwa MP and they almost came to blows. Kioni is said to have stormed out of the meeting after the altercation.
The talks team leadership however downplayed the clash with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka who leads the Azimio team saying there is tremendous progress made.
Kioni on Monday, September 11 raised three issues that it wants addressed by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) which are a carbon copy of the provisions made in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which was declared null and void by all three of Kenya's highest courts, including the Supreme Court.
Among the contentious issues Kioni wants addressed is the shared prosperity, or in layman's terms, the 'One Man One Shilling' call which President William Ruto managed to block Mt Kenya politicians from advancing owing to the aggravated problems it may cause in the political atmosphere, including protests from marginalized areas Kenya would risk losing if the proposal was implemented.
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