Bleak future for bipartisan talks after Azimio announce resumption of mass protests on May 2
Much touted bipartisan talks between the opposition’s Azimio One Kenya coalition and the Kenya Kwanza administration face a false start after the opposition declared resumption of national wide anti-government protests on May 2, 2023.
Effectively, this marks another round of violent protests in which the Raila Odinga led brigade accused police of brutality and even petitioned the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands over the same.
ICC has since confirmed having officially received the petition.
Azimio had heeded to president William Ruto’s call to end street demonstrations and instead give chance to parliamentary based bipartisan talks.
While the Odinga camp gave in to the calls, the have flatly opposed talks domiciled within parliament and wants a more inclusive exercise that involves all stakeholders and must be extra-parliamentary in nature.
Opposition is accusing the government of sabotaging the bipartisan talks.
Yesterday, Azimio National Executive Council chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said the protests will resume on Tuesday, May 2, 2013.
Oparanya says that lack of seriousness from the government side in the bipartisan talks has prompted the return of the protests, which will run concurrently with the talks.
In the inaugural meeting of the bipartisan talks committees, Azimio and Kenya Kwanza committee members failed to agree on the inclusion of some members in the two teams.
Azimio members opposed the inclusion of Eldas MP Adan Keynan while the Kenya Kwanza team wants Pokot South MP David Pkosing kicked out of the Azimio team.
Azimio argued that Keynan is a member of Jubilee party which is a constituent party of Azimio, while Kenya Kwanza said that P’Kosing, who was elected on a KUP ticket, is a Kenya Kwanza member since his party leader John Lonyangapuo signed a post-election pact with Kenya Kwanza.
Azimio leadership had threatened to pull out of the talks unless the membership and scope were widened.
Azimio wants the negotiations to revolve around recruitment of the national polls team, opening and audit of the IEBC servers, cost of living and reinstatement of election commissioners who were kicked out after the last General Election.
