NASA principals say they were not informed about Uhuru-Raila meeting

NASA co-principals Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetang’ula meet on Monday to deliberate on Friday's meeting between Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In a terse statement, the three jointly said they learned of the closed-door meeting between Uhuru and the National Super Alliance leader on television when it was reported that the two publicly reconciled and agreed to work together in the interest of Kenyans.

“This morning the 9th day of March 2018 we saw through the media a meeting between the President and Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga. NASA is a coalition of four political parties namely, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Wiper Democratic Movement-Kenya (WDM-K), Amani National Congress (ANC) and Ford Kenya,” Kalonzo, Mudavadi and Wetang’ula said.

They said while they have always advocated dialogue, as NASA’s coalition’s co-Principals, they were not privy to the discussions at Harambee House.

“The four NASA co-principals have however scheduled a retreat on Monday 12th March, 2018 when we shall deliberate on the political developments,” the trio said.

President Uhuru and Raila buried their differences in a move that caught Kenyans unawares when they held a closed door meeting at House in Nairobi.

Addressing the press on Friday, President Uhuru said that it was time to change the political landscape and focus on moving the country forward.

Uhuru added that Kenya was greater than any individual and leaders should come together and discuss freely what ails the country.

Both leaders were in agreement that there was need to bury the hatchet and unite Kenyans.

On his part, the former Prime Minister noted that it was time to self-reflect as a country.

Raila pointed out that the hardline stances that the political class has been clinging on have been detrimental to the country.

"We have moved from year to year, election to election, never pausing to deal with the challenges that our diversity was always going to pose to our efforts to create a prosperous and united nation. Consequently, the ties that bind us are today under the severest stress," said Raila.

He added that the 2010 Constitution was the hardware and it was time to "upgrade its software” and resolve differences amicably, adding that blame games must stop to protect the future of the country.

He also called on leaders and Kenyans to come together and make it a reality.

The NASA Leader was accompanied by his daughter Winnie Odinga, strategist David Ndii and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.

The talks come barely hours before US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets President Uhuru and other Government officials in talks that will focus on continued support for the democratic process, refugees, and press freedom.

It is not clear whether the talks had anything to do with the visit.