Kenyan Opposition Quits Bi-Partisan Dialogue, Says Protests To Resume

By Samuel Ouma [caption id="attachment_105803" align="alignnone" width="900"] Azimio team addressing media[/caption] The Kenyan opposition, the Azimio coalition, has announced that they will not participate in the proposed bi-partisan dialogue in the parliament, citing a lack of transparency by the ruling coalition. Addressing the media in Nairobi on Tuesday, Kalonzo Musyoka, a principal in the coalition, said they demand out-of-parliament talks due to the lack of good intention portrayed by the government. Mr. Musyoka, the Wiper Party Leader, said the decision to ditch the parliamentary talks was arrived at after they learnt of a motion submitted by the Kenya Kwanza coalition that they claim is "allegedly aimed at establishing a joint select committee in Parliament." The coalition accused President William Ruto of behaving in bad faith by failing to consult them on the planned bipartisan motion. "The motion is disguised as a product of bipartisanship when in fact the leadership of Azimio in Parliament were neither aware nor consulted in its drafting. The motion purports to name members of the Minority Party to the so-called select committee without any reference to the Minority leadership in violation of the Standing Orders of both houses," said Musyoka. "We have insisted on an extra-parliamentary process in view of the strictures of debate in parliament. We will therefore not participate in any such parliamentary process." The Raila Odinga-led coalition voiced displeasure that Kenya Kwanza had taken too long to designate the leader of the Bi-partisan committee, citing a lack of seriousness exacerbated by the inclusion of Azimio Coalition members on their team. Azimio argued that the Kenya Kwanza had no intention of holding any dialogue, let alone one that is honest, transparent, and bipartisan, adding that Ruto's disrespect for dialogue was evident from the start. The coalition reaffirmed that it will stick to its demands and will not allow the negotiations to deviate from addressing the issues at hand. "Our issues remain what we said before and they are reduction in the cost of cooking flour, fuel, electricity and school fees, opening and audit of IEBC servers, bipartisan reform and constitution of IEBC, reinstatement of the 4 IEBC commissioners and end to the buying of MPs which threatens multiparty democracy," added Musyoka. Azimio promises to resume weekly protests after Ramadhan.