- He said emissaries from both Kenya Kwanza and Azimio coalitions met from the morning, up until the time the address on bipartisan talks was made.
- "There are also others who joined on from that particular side and there are others who joined from our side," Oparanya said.
Image: FILE
DPP Noordin Haji was the lead negotiator sent by President William Ruto to strike the deal that saw the cessation of weekly demos.
This is according to Chairman Azimio Executive Council Wycliffe Oparanya, who spoke with NTV.
He said emissaries from both Kenya Kwanza and Azimio coalitions met from the morning, up until the time the address on bipartisan talks was made.
"There are also others who joined on from that particular side and there are others who joined from our side," Oparanya said.
"So, there were about five people from the other side and three people from our side."
He affirmed that the negotiations were initiated by Kenya Kwanza.
When contacted to respond to the matter, NTV quotes DPP as having said:
"Boss I don't know what you are talking about!!"
On Sunday, April 2, Ruto called on opposition chief Raila Odinga to call off demonstrations, to give room for talks.
"I urge Raila and the opposition to call off the demonstration and give bi- partisan approach for us to take Kenya forward," he said.
Ruto however maintained that the talks must be based on sincere deliberations anchored on the rule of law.
"Our position is that we want to engage our brothers and sisters on the other side on issues that are important to Kenyans, them as an opposition, us as a government."
Raila welcomed the talks shortly after.
"We are ready to engage, and we will engage without any form of corruption," he said on Sunday.
On Tuesday, April 4, Raila divulged that he had never met Ruto but agreed their emissaries met and agreed on how to handle the stalemate.
He added that said Sunday's address had fallen short of what had been agreed by their emissaries prior to Ruto's speech.
He said the parliamentary system would not be enough to address all areas of concern.
"Our suggestion is to have a conversation at the national level through a process akin to the 2008 National Accord. To this end, the coalition proposes a team drawn from its ranks both in Parliament and outside Bunge," he said.
He maintained that if the government does not honour the requests made by Azimio, they will go back to the streets.
Speaking on Thursday at Ufungamano Hall in Nairobi, Raila said he will unveil a second phase of nationwide mass action after the holy month of Ramadhan.
Ramadhan is set to end on April 20, meaning Raila could mobilise his troops to the streets as from next week.
"I agree with what you have said, the talks will happen alongside demos. We will fight fire with fire. We will announce after the holy month of Ramadhan," Raila said.