Kenya Kwanza Seeks Audience with Azimio To Negotiate On The End of Protest

Relentless effort by the Kenya Kwanza Administration to secure a deal with the opposition to end the anti-government protest.

As the Azimio coalition maintains that their three-day protests call is on, the Kenya Kwanza side is now stretching an olive branch to the opposition to bring an end to the costly protests. 

This came after the Azimio la Umoja coalition party revealed their two-month strategy for street demonstrations which aims to put pressure on President William Ruto's government to meet the people's demands of reducing the high cost of living.

An insider told a local media outlet that Azimio officials including National Assembly minority whip Junet Mohammed, Azimio spokesman Prof Makau Mutual, and top government officials are set to lead the talks within a set timeline.

Two Kenya Kwanza MPs confirmed the agenda of the talks was aimed at seeking a truce between the two parties on Monday.

“Yes, we have reached out to Azimio. The country is facing a myriad of challenges that are beyond our reach. We are talking to their representatives,” said an MP in the leadership.

Last week, the Azimio la Umoja leadership held a summit at the SKM center before heading to Kibra where they launched the 10 million digital signature collection drive.

With further investigations, an anonymous source stated that they had no intent of entertaining an engagement as said by Junet who they claimed never attended any of the 38 summits held by the party and therefore had no right to act as the mediator between the two parties.

“We have held 38 summits so far and Junet has not attended any of them. How can he mediate on our behalf yet has skipped many Azimio administrations? We are not going to entertain any engagements,” said the source.

Another MP from the Azimio party added that leaders like Martha Karua of Narc Kenya were committed to the cause and had turned down many offers that came their way. He said that she was not ready to leave the fight just yet.

The Ruto’s camp's latest moves have caused ripples within the Azimio coalition which is divided over whether to accept the overtures or reject them outright and continue with the demonstrations.

The Kenya Kwanza requests that Azimio leader Raila Odinga accept the candidacy for the position of African Union Commission (AUC) chairman when the position becomes available, halt protests, and cooperate closely with the government.

On Monday, Azimio executive Wycliffe Oparanya called any attempt by Kenya Kwanza to lure them into abandoning their people-oriented agenda a bluff.

“There is no such thing. We don’t want positions. The demonstration is about the high cost of living and other issues affecting Kenyans. We want the government to ease the living conditions so that they can deal with secondary issues,” Mr. Oparanya said

Jubilee deputy leader David Murathe added more on that note.

“The UDA side is hell-bent on killing the constituent parties of Azimio, but they want an active opposition. They should stay away from the Azimio party’s affairs” stated Mr. Murathe

ODM secretary general and Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna went further to question how Mr. Musyoka and Ms. Karua would make it to the parliament since the move required a constitutional amendment.

The protest that took place last Wednesday has drawn the attention of the former agriculture cabinet secretary Peter Munya who in an interview with a local station said that the main agenda of the rallies is the unbearable high cost of living.

If being arrested will improve the situation, I’m ready to be arrested and even detained,” Mr Munya said.