Murathe Explains Why Bipartisan Talks Failed

Vice-chairman of Jubilee David Murathe claims that President William Ruto deliberately set up the Azimio and Kenya Kwanza bipartisan negotiations to fail.

Murathe claims that Dr Ruto merely consented to the negotiations in order to relieve the strain brought on by the opposition’s biweekly rallies.

He asserted that the President’s appointment of lawmakers from the Azimio side who have sworn allegiance to him to negotiate on behalf of the Kenya Kwanza was an intentional attempt to scuttle the process.

He maintained that when Ruto and his group suggested holding the talks, they did so with no good will.

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He confirmed that, as the Azimio side had declared, the protests will resume on May 2.

“The talks were never meant to succeed. Appointing a Jubilee or Azimio member to be part of the Kenya Kwanza team in negotiations was actually to spite the entire process,” Murathe told NTV on Wednesday.

“These guys had no good faith. They never intended to do it… they were looking for an excuse to reduce the steam from Maandamano and I want to assure them that next week May 2, we’ll be there.”

The Jubilee vice chair stated that the opposition wants the discussions to take place outside of Parliament in order to incorporate more parties, including the civil society, and make the process open to public participation.

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President Ruto and Raila’s representatives in the discussions had a heated argument on Tuesday, which resulted in the process being put on hold indefinitely.

The involvement of Eldas MP Adan Keynan and his Pokot South counterpart David Pkosing to the panel was the bone of contention.

However, the group decided to have a shared secretariat. Kenya Kwanza will consult and provide a name, while Azimio fronted lawyer Paul Mwangi.