Bipartisan negotiations to end the political impasse between President William Ruto and the leader of the opposition, Raila Odinga, have been put on hold until consultations are held.
The talks were on Tuesday put on hold for seven days after MPs from the ruling Kenya Kwanza alliance and Azimio failed to reach consensus on certain issues.
The talks were started by the president in April to defuse political tensions in the country following weeks of public protests organized by Raila over the high cost of living and his purportedly rigged election victory.
“Our colleagues have refused to concede to any of the interim measures we raised which has led us to the conclusion that they are not negotiating in good faith,” said Otiende Amollo, the bipartisan co-chair, adding that the talks “will not get anywhere should the status quo remain the same.”
Read: Raila Gives Gov’t 48-hours to Resume Bipartisan Talks
Both sides accused each other of being insincere in the negotiations.
Kenya Kwanza claimed that the creation of a new electoral body to oversee the 2027 elections is the primary point of contention.
“The Kenya Kwanza has singled out the issue on IEBC, indicating that to them that is the most critical bit of the issues brought by Azimio. We have agreed that the issue on IEBC is what must take precedence from today,” said Kenya Kwanza committee co-chair George Murugara.
The Tharaka MP noted that they expected the talks to resume to their logical conclusion.
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On the other hand, the opposition, Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna said, left the negotiating table over the attack on the Jubilee Party, lowering of the cost of Unga, preservation of the Election Servers and suspension of IEBC reconstitution.
“These are necessary in our view in order to safeguard the outcome of the talks. We hope sense shall prevail,” tweeted Sifuna.
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