Kenya Kwanza dialogue team will not be available on Monday, says Kimani Ichung'wah

Kenya Kwanza delegation team lead Kimani Ichung'wah. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The Kenya Kwanza alliance has requested the Azimio la Umoja coalition to reschedule the planned talks set for Monday, August 7.

Kenya Kwanza, through its delegation team lead Kimani Ichung'wah, said that they had scheduled a debrief with the team on the same Monday, and will therefore not be available to meet Kalonzo Musyoka and team.

The National Assembly Majority Leader instead proposed a new date, Thursday, August 10.

"We seek the indulgence of your team on the invitation to a meeting on Monday, August 7. 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 in order to prepare for the talks and further engagement with the bipartisan team and their assisting counsels. We, therefore, seek your indulgence and propose that we schedule a joint first meeting on Thursday, August 10," said Ichung'wah.

Additionally, Ichung'wah requested that the meetings be held at public venues so as to reduce the cost of booking private ones.

"With the view of mitigating the high cost of living, we respectfully request your team to allow the two teams to schedule our meetings at public venues such as County Hall, or in the alternative at the School of Government in Kabete," he added.

Initially, the Azimio la Umoja team led by Kalonzo Musyoka had settled for Serena Hotel, Nairobi as the venue for both teams to meet and discuss emerging issues.

However, Ichung'wah says that by holding the meetings in public spaces, there will be no additional expenditures incurred.

The two teams which are expected to meet soon were formed after President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to put aside their differences and have a national dialogue through a team of ten people, five from each side.