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Kenya Kwanza yesterday accused Opposition leader Raila Odinga of seeking to derail the bipartisan talks called by President William Ruto and warned that they will never allow a non-parliamentary process.

Kenya Kwanza lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) maintained that they will not allow Raila to hold the government at ransom, insisting that any talks must be within the law.

Cheruiyot a close ally of President William Ruto said the Kenya Kwanza side will not entertain any talks outside Parliament, accusing Raila of trying to rock plans for the bipartisan talks.

On Tuesday, Raila rejected an offer by President William Ruto to have Azimio’s grievances addressed by a bi-partisan team in Parliament, instead calling for a process similar to the National Accord of 2008 to resolve the issues at hand.

“Our suggestion is to have a conversation at the national level through a process akin to the 2008 National Accord,” said Raila.

His assertion was buttressed by a statement from the Azimio coalition.

In a statement, the coalition stated; “It is the resolution of this meeting that a purely parliamentary process may not serve the intended ends. Our suggestion is to have a conversation at the national level through a process akin to the 2008 National Accord.”

Olive branch

But yesterday, Cheruiyot warned Raila not to mistake President Ruto’s olive branch to the opposition as a sign of weakness.

“We have seen Raila walking back on things agreed on Sunday. Asking for a process similar to the National Accord is a euphemism for ‘nusu mkate’ government. We were warned not to engage Raila as he will say one thing today and change the next time,” said Cheruiyot.

The Senate majority leader stated that the government will not be cowed with threats of return of “maandamano” as they will not accept any process outside the confines of the law.

“We will sit down on the table but anything will not be based on threats. We are sitting together not because of any fear. Let them not imagine there is anything we fear and that is why we have come to the table,” he said.

He went on: “We are willing, ready and waiting to sit down with the Opposition but everything will be done within the confines of the law. This conversation will be limited to things that were agreed on.”

The Kericho lawmaker said the government side has already come up with a team for the talks and Tuesday next week, they will have a Kenya Kwanza parliamentary group meeting to ratify the names before they are made public.

“We have our team ready and we are just waiting for the minority side to also do the same. We are ready for a team of seven or nine,” he said.

Non-parliamentarians

Senate Majority Whip Boni Khalwale added that calls to have the exercise extended to non-parliamentarians created the impression that Raila does not have confidence in his MPs.

“Let him name members of his team as we want to discharge this matter once and for all. The only organ with authority to say something with the force of law is Parliament and not any other place,” he said.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Tabitha Karanja called on the Opposition not to politicise the exercise.

“Let us support and accommodate the talks initiated by the two leaders. We need peace for everything to work in the country,” said the Nakuru Senator.

On opening of servers, Cheruiyot said the issue is beyond the purview of MPs as Parliament is not a custodian of servers or ballot boxes and there is nothing a bi-partisan committee can do about it.

“In any case, the Supreme Court opened 46 ballot boxes in areas where Azimio had problems and no anomalies were flagged off,” he said.

Khalwale added: “The entity responsible for the server is IEBC and not Wanjiku. Let Azimio stop hiding under demonstrations for servers to be opened.”

Cost of living

On the cost of living, Cheruiyot said subsidies matter was a scandal as billions left Treasury but never got to the millers or Kenyans got the cheap unga and the government will not entertain a return of the same. Khalwale added that the problem of high cost of living is global and not only a Kenya Kwanza government problem.

“Give us a country in Africa that is not going through this problem then we will admit we are the problem,” he said.

Raila warned if the ruling Kenya Kwanza fails to demonstrate seriousness in moving the talks forward, he would rally his supporters back to the streets as soon as next week.