Azimio leader Raila Odinga was Tuesday locked in a meeting with the Opposition's team of the National Dialogue Committee amid concerns over the slow pace of the talks.
The meeting also comes hot on the heels of demands by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that the audit of the 2022 presidential election results be dropped from the agenda of the committee.
Sources told the Star the Opposition chief is meeting the Azimio side at the Kalonzo Musyoka Command Centre in Karen, Nairobi.
“The slow pace of the talks will highly feature in the meeting,” the insider said.
The National Dialogue Committee has made little progress in addressing issues raised by Kenya Kwanza and Azimio since the talks began.
The committee co-chaired by Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka (Azimio) and Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah (Kenya Kwanza) has signed its framework of agreement but work is still in initial stages.
Speaking in Laare on Sunday, Gachagua insisted that the 2022 presidential election was audited by the Supreme Court, which declared William Ruto as the validly elected President.
“Discussing the 2022 presidential election should be dropped. Let them proceed with the other agenda. Let them talk about reconstituting IEBC, embedding the Office of Prime Cabinet Secretary and others,” he said.
The committee is expected to recommend legal and policy reforms on issues affecting Kenyans in line with the Constitution and respecting the functional and institutional integrity of state organs.
KenyaKwanza had named the reconstitution of the IEBC, implementation of two-thirds gender rule, the entrenchment of the CDF, the establishment of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and embedding the Office of Prime Cabinet Secretary as the items for discussion.
Azimio, on the other hand, had named the cost of living, audit of the 2022 presidential election results and restructuring and reconstitution of the IEBC.
The National Dialogue Committee faces delays in its work programme over frequent travels by some key panel members, risking bogging down the entire process.
Othe members of the Azimio side are Opiyo Wandayi, the Leader of the Minority Party in the National Assembly, Eugene Wamalwa, the Party Leader of DAP-K, Okon'go Omogeni, Senator for Nyamira and Amina Mnyazi, MP for Malindi.
Kenya Kwanza side has Embu governnor Ceceil Mbarire Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, lawmakers Hassan Omara (EALA) and Catherine Wambilianga (Bungoma Women Rep).
