Ruto, Raila teams suspend talks indefinitely

President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga's troops in the bipartisan team sharply disagreed on Tuesday, halting peace talks indefinitely.

The two sides were unable to strike a deal on the inclusion of Eldas MP Adan Keynan and his Pokot South counterpart David Pkosing to the panel.

This was the second time in two weeks the committee has failed to address the issue of membership.

The team, however, agreed on having a joint secretariat. Azimio fronted lawyer Paul Mwangi. Kenya Kwanza is to consult and submit a name.

The two teams read from different scripts in many ways.

Unlike last week, Azimio and Kenya Kwanza addressed separate press conferences immediately after the closed-door meeting.

“There are issues we agreed upon and there are those which we have not. Each side will give a statement,” co-chairperson Tharaka MP George Murugara said.

The two sides agreed to suspend the talks, giving three options they believed would resolve the puzzle.

Azimio co-chairperson Otiende Amollo said the stalemate threatening to scuttle the talks can only be unlocked if the two MPs volunteer to withdraw.

The other way would be if the principals recall them from the 14-member committee.

Azimio and Kenya Kwanza can also agree to withdraw their objections, the MP said.

"Until then, we have hit a stalemate and we have suspended these talks until such time we will have consensus or when positions change,” Otiende said.

Murugara said they agreed on a broader consultation to get a solution.

“Unfortunately, we have not been able to agree on how to proceed to process those particular objections,” the Tharaka MP said.

Otiende, who was the first to address the press, called out Kenya Kwanza, accusing them of acting in bad faith.

Last week, the two sides differed on the same issue and agreed to refer the same to the appointing authorities.

On the party membership debacle, Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu last Tuesday clarified that neither Jubilee nor Kenya Union Party has any post-election deal with the ruling Kenya  Kwanza.

“This office has no official record of any coalition agreement that involves Kenya Union Party, Jubilee Party and Kenya Kwanza coalition,” Nderitu said in a letter to Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi.

Wandayi had sought clarification on the status of the coalition agreement between the three political parties.

On Monday, KUP leader John Lonyangapuo admitted that the outfit is still legally a member of Azimio.

He indicated, though, that they had activated plans to sever links with the Raila-led coalition. 

The stalemate comes at a time Azimio has convened street protests in Nairobi starting Tuesday next week.

Azimio executive council chairman Wycliffe Oparanya cited the lack of commitment by Kenya Kwanza.

 “We have come to the conclusion that as we had feared, the commitment is lacking on the part of Kenya Kwanza,” Oparanya said.

On Tuesday, Murugara accused the opposition of acting in bad faith by calling mass action when the talks are yet to begin.

“As far as we are concerned, one reason the talks were called was because of demonstrations," he said. 

"It is our position that Azimio should not carry out their demonstrations until the process is concluded.”

His co-chairperson, however, defended the coalition’s decisions to resume mass action, which he noted is constitutional.

“The right to protest is in the constitution and you cannot be accused of acting in bad faith when you exercise Article 37 rights,” Otiende said.