- Ichung'wah announced the committee will allow members of the public and stakeholders to submit their memorandum up to Friday.
- He added that the team has agreed to look at the cost of living as an interim measure.
Image: KEITH MUSEKE
The National Dialogue Committee has entered a critical phase of the Kenya Kwanza-Azimio la Umoja talks, it has emerged.
Kenya Kwanza team leader Kimani Ichung'wah, who is also the Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly, said the committee has "begun the most difficult work of the dialogue".
"We have considered reports of the technical teams and we have issues of both convergence and divergence," he stated.
Leader of the Azimio side, Kalonzo Musyoka, said the team will meet on Thursday to agree on "measures of actual engagement".
"There are issues we have agreed on but there are others we are yet to strike a common ground. For example, we have agreed on the reconstitution of the IEBC but we have not agreed how," he explained.
He added that the team has agreed to look at the cost of living as an interim measure.
"We want Kenyans to know we stand with them," he added.
Ichung'wah announced the committee will allow members of the public and stakeholders to submit their memorandum up to Friday.
"On Friday, some identified stakeholders will appear before us for 20 minutes each," he said.
He said those to appear before the committee include the IEBC Secretariat, the IEBC Selection Panel and the Working Group on Two-Thirds Gender Rule.
He said other stakeholders will have until September 29 to appear before the committee.
Inchung'wah and Kalonzo spoke on Monday after co-chairing a committee meeting at the Bomas of Kenya on various issues raised by the Government and Opposition.
All members of the teams were present save for Embu governor Cecil Mbarire, who is the deputy leader for the Kenya Kwanza side.
The talks continue amid calls from a section of leaders to drop some of the agenda items for discussion.
Some Azimio politicians have also been urging the Opposition to pull out of the talks.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachangua has said the audit of the 2022 presidential election results should be dropped from the National Dialogue Committee agenda.
Gachagua said there is no constitutional provision for auditing the election as the Supreme Court pronounced itself.
Last week on Friday, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino said Azimio's side in the National Dialogue Committee to pull out of the talks.
Babu said the talks were pointless as the government has not shown any commitment to addressing the high cost of living.
The mandate of the committee is to facilitate dialogue and consensus building and recommend appropriate constitutional, legal and policy reforms on issues of concern to the people of Kenya.