Kenya Kwanza says not available for talks with Azimio on Monday

The Kenya Kwanza coalition team is now requesting Azimio la Umoja One Kenya to reschedule the date for the planned bipartisan talks from Monday to Thursday next week.

The ruling coalition team leader Kimani Ichung'wah, in a letter to his Azimio counterpart Kalonzo Musyoka on Friday, argued that the August 7 date proposed by the opposition does not align well Kenya Kwanza which only recently picked its 5-member delegation.

According to the National Assembly Majority Leader, Kenya Kwanza had also – coincidentally - already scheduled a team meeting on the same day to prepare for the talks.

Ichung'wah, in his rejoinder to a letter Kalonzo by on Thursday, instead suggested that the dialogue teams meet on Thursday at 10am in order to allow his team members time to organize themselves.

“I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 3rd August 2023, contents of which we duly note. However, we seek the indulgence of your team on the invitation to a meeting on Monday 7th August 2023,” stated Ichung’wah.

“While appreciating the urgency to embark on the talks, it is worth noting that having just constituted our team, we had a scheduled debrief on Monday with our team in order to prepare for the talks and a further engagement with the Bi-Partisan team and their assisting counsels on Tuesday 8th August 2023. We, therefore, seek your kind indulgence and propose that we schedule a joint first meeting on Thursday 10th August 2023 at 10 am.”

Kenya Kwanza, in the same light, urged Azimio to also reconsider a change of venue from their proposed “luxurious” Serena Hotels to a “more affordable” public venue.

Ichung'wah cited the current ballooning public debt and the high cost of living in the country, reiterating that the government is committed to avoiding any further unnecessary expenditure.

“We respectfully request your team to allow the two teams to schedule our meetings at public venues such as County Hall which I would be happy to engage the Parliamentary Service Commission to make available or in the alternative at the School of Government- Kabete,” he stated.

“It is our considered view that these are venues that will not occasion any additional expenditure to the public and which would otherwise be available for such public meetings at little or no cost to us or to the Kenyan taxpayers as opposed to the luxurious five star Serena Hotel-Nairobi.”

He added: “In any case, since we are only discussing matters that concern the people of Kenya, we believe such matters should be in open public spaces.”

The lawmaker clarified that the changes by President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza were devoid of any malice, further emphasizing the commitment of his team to address the issues raised by Azimio.

However, the MP maintained Kenya Kwanza's previous stance that they would not engage in any issues of ill-twisted motives that do not align with the mandate of ending violence and restoring peace or do not adhere to the rule of law.

“We look forward to engaging with you in due course and take this very early opportunity to restate our unwavering commitment to engaging with your team in good faith, with utmost honesty and adherence to the rule of law and constitutionalism to safeguard the unity and peace in our country for the greater good of all our people,” he said.

“We shall not be available to engage on any issues that are of personal or private nature whatsoever… we will not participate in any manner on any issue that undermines any arm of government or undermines any decisions that have been made thereof by any arm of government or undermines our laws and the Constitution.”

Kalonzo, in a letter to Ichungw’ah on Thursday, stressed the urgency of the talks saying the opposition would want to begin as soon as possible to address the anxiety of their supporters.

The Wiper party boss underscored that a time-bound process would ensure both coalitions’ commitment to work hard to resolve the issues at hand, adding that they hope the talks will conclude by the end of August so that the nation is reunited by September.