• Keynan had been a sore spot for the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition who had declined to meet until he either withdrew or was replaced.
• The MP belongs to the Jubilee party which is affiliated to the Azimio coalition.
Image: FILE
Saku MP Ali Rasso Dido has been appointed to replace Eldas MP Adan Keynan in the Kenya Kwanza bipartisan committee.
National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichungw'ah and his Senate counterpart Aaron Cheruiyot made the announcement in a statement released on Wednesday.
"We have nominated the Hon Dido Rasso MP Saku to replace Hon Adan Keynan in the bipartisan Committee," the statement read.
Keynan had been a sore spot for the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition who had declined to meet until he either withdrew or was replaced.
The MP belongs to the Jubilee party which is affiliated to the Azimio coalition.
Azimio had insisted that including Keynan in the talks was a move to sabotage the initiative.
The talks collapsed after the two teams failed to agree on the composition of the panel.
On April 26, leader of the Azimio talks committee Otiende Amollo turned down a meeting convened by Kenya Kwanza and the leadership of Parliament to agree on the resumption of the bipartisan talks.
He cited continued stay of Keynan in the Kenya Kwanza team as the reason for the refusal.
"As communicated in our meeting on April 23, our team is not available for any discussion until and unless there is a communication of withdrawal or/and replacement of Adan Keynan as a member of the Kenya Kwanza team," Otiende said.
"Given the above, I advise that I shall not be available for the proposed meeting."
In an attempt to salvage the situation, the Kenya Kwanza team conditionally agreed to recall Keynan from the talks.
"To demonstrate our commitment to the one process of a peaceful bipartisan engagement, we are ready to recuse the Hon Keynan if the issue they consider to be in conflict with the Hon Keynan will be part of terms of reference of the formal process," Kenya Kwanza's talks committee co-chair George Murugara said last week.
In Wednesday's statement, Ichungw'ah said Keynan had recused himself from the committee, "for the greater interest of the country."
The move was welcomed by Azimio who, through a statement by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, called off Thursday demos.