President Uhuru Kenyatta will not hold political talks with opposition leader Raila Odinga or the other NASA leaders.
The head of state met a committee of governors dubbed the Peace and Reconciliation Committee in Kwale on Friday on the sidelines of the county bosses’ induction and told them that he will only engage on genuine issues of development.
“The President told the governors that he
will only discuss genuine needs and grievances related to development and guided by his Big Four agenda,” said a source that was in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by, among others, the Council of Governors’ chairman Josphat Nanok, Kakamega's Wycliffe Oparaya, Makueni’s Kivutha Kibwana,
Kiraitu Murungi (Meru), Salim Mvurya (Kwale),
Joyce Laboso (Bomet), Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), and Francis Kimemia (Nyandarua).
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During the meeting, the President is reported to have said he will not meet the NASA leaders or anyone else to discuss a political agenda however well it is camouflaged.
He told them that he was present in 1997 during the Inter-Party Parliamentary Group negotiations, whose architects are the same people who are now dissatisfied and want talks. He said he was also there in 2003, when the clamour for more post-election talks led to the failed national referendum, Kenya’s first plebescite, and the main issues were the same as now.
The President recalled that one-and-a-half years ago, diplomats and the clergy led the clamour for the IEBC to be removed and the removal of people from office who had done nothing wrong.
“He is not returning to that journey. That’s for others. He is open to discuss the economy and development and this is not about talks with NASA. He will reach out to different groups at the appropriate time,” said another source in the Presidency.
The Western powers led by US Ambassador Robert Godec and British High Commissioner Nic Hailey as well as Kenyan religious leaders have backed dialogue to end the country’s post-election political standoff.
However, President Uhuru and Deputy President William Ruto have maintained that they would only entertain discussions on how to implement the Jubilee manifesto and not about sharing power.
In what could further deepen the country’s political crisis, Raila yesterday – for the first time since his botched swearing-in – kicked off a flurry of regional consultative meetings on NASA’s way forward with elected leaders.
Raila, who has been at the Coast since December 12, launched the Coast People's Assembly Convention, widely seen as a vigorous campaign to stoke disaffection and fury among millions of his frustrated supporters.
Many opposition backers have expressed anger and frustration following the aborted oath-taking fete, with some accusing NASA of betrayal. They have demanded that the NASA leadership announces its next steps.
In Kilifi, Raila led top NASA strategists in a meeting with governors, MPs and MCAs drawn from all the Coast counties in the wake of protests by some regional leaders over allocation of parliamentary slots.
The meeting was attended by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi, as the Coast political heavyweights sought to consolidate and buttress their backyards inside NASA.
The opposition has also lined up a series of meetings countrywide with grassroots leaders in what appears to be a change in strategy in NASA’s anti-Uhuru rebellion.
During the conventions, NASA experts led by chief strategist David Ndii and Siaya Senator James Orengo have been tasked with the responsibility of explaining the opposition’s course.
And yesterday, they renewed their push for either a fresh election or secession, further setting the stage for a confrontation with the State, which has made threats against the separatist ideology.
“So talk of self-determination is our right,” Ndii, who was dramatically arrested weeks ago and released without charge, told the meeting.
This was seen as a response to the President, who on Friday warned stern action would be taken against leaders pushing for secession.
“We can have dialogue, either individually or collectively, but one thing is clear: There is a line, and if you cross it, the law will deal with you,” he warned when he addressed the governors’ devolution conference in Diani, Kwale.
ODM executive director Oduor Ong’wen, who sits in a committee formed to spearhead the People's Assembly, said the opposition's plan to swear in Raila was still on.
“We will swear him in, wapende wasipende [whether they like it or not],” he said in the meeting in Kilifi.
“I believe, and many other people believe, the only legitimately elected person as the President of the Republic of Kenya is none other than Raila Odinga,” claimed Ong’wen, as he rallied leaders behind the People's Assembly.
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Ndii maintained that Kenya would only heal if ownership of resources is recognised locally.
“What happens in Lamu is a national project, but what happens in Nyeri is a local project,” said the renowned economist behind the separatist ideology.
While Raila launched the consultative forums, all eyes will be on a high-level alliance meeting on Wednesday that would not only determined the fate of the NASA coalition, but also map out the alliance’s next steps, including deciding if there will be any talks with Jubilee.
The meeting was put off from Monday to allow Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka more time to arrive in the country from Germany.
Kalonzo, the NASA deputy in command, will arrive in the country on Tuesday morning from Berlin, where he has been for nearly two months nursing his ailing wife, Pauline.
His prolonged absence is said to have caused a huge leadership vacuum within his Wiper outfit against the backdrop of bitter protests from party MPs over the running of NASA affairs.
The crisis talks come in the wake of internal rifts within the alliance triggered by the fallout on sharing of parliamentary leadership positions and EALA elections.
NASA affiliates are said to be jittery over a decision by Raila’s ODM party to grab most of the top House leadership positions, including in the prestigious Parliamentary Service Commission.
Wiper has particularly accused ODM of shortchanging them, while Ford Kenya and ANC are said to be grumbling quietly.