We refer to your invitation to attend the summit.
Unfortunately, we feel constrained to decline your invitation.
Firstly we do not view your organisation, Kepsa, as having the requisite impartiality to lead a national non-partisan discourse on the topics under discussion. We view Kepsa as an appendage of the Jubilee administration.
Over the last several years, you have not shown any interest to discuss with the opposition the concerns they have regarding peaceful elections, national cohesion and unity.
You have never shown interest in our public engagements, on our programmes beyond cosmetic appearance at best, and you have not treated the opposition as a legitimate entity with meaningful contribution to our national development.
The only time we get to hear from you is when the disagreements over national issues between the government and the opposition generate political heat that threatens the tranquility in which the interest of your members thrive.
Instead, you have been particularly available to engage the government on these same issues and to support its programs to the exclusion of the opposition.
Numerous are the times your alliance has held discourse with the President at State House and you have become a common feature in every other function hosted by the National Government.
A good example of your impartiality is the way you have dealt with the issue of corruption in Kenya. While the opposition continues to put pressure on the national government to exhibit the political will to deal with corruption in public offices, Kepsa went into a partnership with the president to divert attention away from the government by blaming members of the public as co-conspirators in the corruption engaged in by public officers.
This is the same impartiality you have practised on the issue of elections. Your last concern on this matter was when we were holding public protests to force the government to accept electoral reforms. We did not see Kepsa’s interest at all in the opposition’s attempt to introduce electoral reforms by way of referendum.
After the negotiations began, you went underground and are only resurfacing now because new conflicts have emerged concerning the government’s commitment to the implementation of the issues agreed on in the negotiation.
Indeed, your discussion is limited to “peaceful election” while it should be primarily on “credible election”. If you ensure that there are credible elections, you will not have to be concerned about peaceful elections because the latter is an inevitable result of the former.
But it is inconceivable that you can have peaceful elections that do not emanate from credible elections. Ironically, the most peaceful elections are held under the worst dictatorships, with predetermined results.
As opposition, we would wish to have a genuine engagement with you on national issues but not under your auspices and not while you continue to have a partisan approach to issues of national importance. We also encourage engagements as political parties, not government and opposition.
Our country is crying for honest and credible referees on the way to 2017 elections. We do not view Kepsa as such a referee.
The summit was officially opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta at Leisure Lodge in Kwale county on Friday.