Members of Parliament allied with President William Ruto and Opposition leader Raila Odinga joined forces on Wednesday evening to provide legal support to the National Assembly in a rare display of unity during the National Dialogue Committee’s late-night session.
The lawmakers formally established the 10-member bipartisan team charged with negotiating resolutions following the 2022 post-election crisis.
Both the Majority and Minority parties in the National Assembly agreed that the talks should include electoral reforms to avoid another round of political standoffs over disputed election results.
However, the MPs ruled out any possibility of power-sharing between the ruling Kenya Kwanza and the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
The two sides praised President Ruto and Odinga for agreeing to talk.
National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and his Minority counterpart Opiyo Wandayi rallied the House to support the motion, emphasising the importance of ending the year-long standoff.
Following the Opposition’s call for a series of chaotic nationwide street protests, scores of people have died, others have been seriously injured, and property has been destroyed.
Ichung’wah stated that both parties had stated unequivocally that they were not interested in any form of power-sharing.
He stated that the talks were intended to produce reforms that would effectively eliminate the use of violence to contest election results.
Dialogue
“This dialogue is a result of a consultative meeting between President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga. These are two eminent leaders in our country. They agreed there is a need for dialogue. This is a call for Kenyans to come and reason together,” said Ichung’wah.
He claimed that if the motion was approved by both Houses of Parliament, it would have legal standing, and the MPs could then approve any legislative or constitutional changes the negotiating team proposed.
“Raila has stated in the past that he is not open to any kind of power-sharing. The goal of this dialogue is to firmly establish constitutionalism in our nation so that the victor of every election is given the right to lead, according to the Kikuyu MP.
In Kenya Kwanza, Kimani Ichungw’ah will serve as Delegation leader, with Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire deputizing him. Others on the team are Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot, EALA MP Hassan Omar, and Bungoma MP Catherine Wambilianga.
The eight-member technical team formed by the two camps shall support the National Dialogue Committee in reviewing the framework agreement and framing the agenda for the negotiations.
Kenya Kwanza Alliance has High Court Advocate Muthomi Thiankolu, Dr. Linda Musumba, a law lecturer and an advocate, lawyer Nick Biketi, and law lecturer Dr. Duncan Ojwang on its technical team.
Azimio, on the other hand, has Mr. Kioni, university lecturer Dr. Adams Oloo, former East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Zein Abubakar, and Isabel Githinji.