No end in sight to chest thumping as Ruto and Raila teams plan meet

President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga. [File, Standard] The political grandstanding by President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga continues to play out ahead of the peace talks scheduled to kick off tomorrow. Addressing Mukurwe-ini residents in Nyeri County yesterday, President Ruto said he is ready for a round table meeting with Raila as long as there is no talk of a handshake and the opposition denounces protests. Ruto maintained that for the talks to begin, the Azimio leader must declare that never again shall he use violence to express dissatisfaction with the government. "I heard our brothers in the opposition agree with us that they, just like us, are opposed to handshake, now that they have declared so, they should go ahead and agree on ending violence and through that, we shall agree on everything else," he said. "If we agree on this, then we can proceed as a country and we can proceed with the rest of the things. I want them to refrain from violence and the destruction of property and businesses," he added. The Head of State said the country was peaceful and democratic and that he would not allow violent protests that led to the destruction of property and loss of lives. He claimed that Azimio planned for mayhem and violence and not peaceful protests. "When youth pelt stones at police officers and destroy property, that is illegal, undemocratic, unconstitutional and unpatriotic. I will never allow that to happen again," he said. The President said his government was focused on service delivery. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua instructed the Kenya Kwanza dialogue team led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah to ensure that Azimio fulfils the conditions before the talks begin. "Rais tungeomba kwa heshima sababu umekubali Kimani Ichungwah waongee (with due respect Mr President and in consideration that you have given a go-ahead for Kimani Ichungwah to proceed with the talks) but we want before Ichungwah and his team start the talks, he should make sure that you make it a condition that Raila and his team must denounce violence as a way of sorting out political issues. Violence should not always be a solution," Gachagua said. Good relationship Gachagua vowed to ensure Ruto does not agree to a handshake with the opposition. "He who is bitten by a snake fears a rope. Before the 2018 handshake, we had a good relationship with the former President but when he shook hands with Raila, until today we don't know what happened," he said. Raila on Saturday issued a 30-day notice for talks to have been concluded failure to which he threatened to sanction the resumption of protests. "Tunanongea bila masharti; wao vile vile wasitoe masharti kwetu. Lakini wasipokuwa tayari kuongea na kukubaliana na sisi vile tunataka tunasema baada ya siku 30, Wakenya watachukua hatua tofauti. (We have agreed to engage in the talks without conditions, so they should not give us conditions either. But if there is no agreement after 30 days, Kenyans will take a different course of action," he said at Ihono village, Gem during the burial of a protestor who was shot dead by police during anti-government demonstrations in Kangemi, Nairobi, last month. The Azimio leader said he will direct his supporters to take to the streets next month if the planned bi-partisan talks amount to nothing. Ichungwah who has accompanied Ruto on the Mt Kenya tour said the Kenya Kwanza team was willing to listen to the issues that will be raised by the opposition but ruled out talks on the cost of living, saying that is the work of the government. "We will listen to them on anything but not the cost of living. The president is already working on it and we can all see for example the prices of gas cylinders have gone down and so is the price of fertiliser. The cost of living, leave it to the president, it's not up for discussion," he said The Majority Leader said the inaugural talks will kick off on Wednesday at 11.30 am at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi. "I called the former Vice President (Kalonzo Musyoka) and informed him of the date and venue. As Kenya Kwanza, we ruled out talks in hotels to save costs. Let me also say that there will be no allowances. We are there to talk about Kenyans not to drink tea," he said. Further, Ichungwah maintained that the talks will be based on mutual respect and not intimidation. "We are ready to engage with you based on mutual respect. Not with threats or blackmail. You must not blackmail us so that if we don't do what you want, you will go back to the streets. If you want to go back nendeni mtapambana na wenye mtapatana huko," he said. Political parties For Azimio, the issues to be discussed include the audit of the 2022 presidential polls, reconstitution of the IEBC, measures to prevent interference with political parties, outstanding constitutional matters and the high cost of living. Kenya Kwanza on the other hand has listed the reconstitution of IEBC, implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, entrenchment of Constituency Development Fund, establishment and entrenchment of the office of the leader of opposition and the embedment of the office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary. In an interview with Inooro TV, the President said his team would only discuss the five issues. "We can't discuss the issue of the cost of living. They are free to share with Kenyans their plan since we have our plan and agenda and does not require dialogue," he said. Ruto ruled out the opening of IEBC servers saying that was discussed during last year's poll.

No end in sight to chest thumping as Ruto and Raila teams plan meet

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No end in sight to chest thumping as Ruto and Raila teams plan meet

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