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The Azimio la Umoja coalition has warned President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Coalition against reconstituting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) without its involvement.

The coalition led by opposition chief Raila Odinga told its counterparts that such actions will have far-reaching ramifications not only to the coalition but to the country.

Speaking yesterday in parliament, leader of the minority in the National Assembly Opiyo Wandayi (pictured) said as Azimio Coalition will not be taking part in the talks any more as Kenya Kwanza had proven to them that they were not serious with the said matters.

He said, “Let them dare to constitute IEBC, this will have extremely painful experiences that I even shudder to imagine.”

Demands not met

Wandayi took on Tharaka MP George Muragara who is the co-chair of the talks accusing him of calling for the resumption of the talks yet their demands have not been met.

According to him, the Kenya Kwanza team was never serious about the talks and only called for them to cool down the political temperatures that were rising.

He claimed that contrary to arguments that the IEBC selection panel had ceased operations as alleged by the government’s side, it is clear that the panel is still operating.

“The statement by Murugara and the Kenya Kwanza team is a confirmation that they are not serious about the bi-partisan talks. 

The Bi-partisan talks are a mere red herring, they are a waste of time and a deceptive act.

“The talks were called to make the public believe that something was going on, yet what Kenya Kwanza was doing is to just buy time to have the country’s political temperatures cool down,” said Wandayi.

He added, “if the talks were called in good faith then why are they not heeding to our demands?

They need to tell us we are now past those talks, they have collapsed and we have pulled out of them. As of now, there are no bi-partisan talks and Murugara and team should now go and do something else.”

 The sentiments by Wandayi come just a day after Murugara accused his Azimio counterparts of lacking seriousness in the talks.

Murugara said that although he had written to his co-chair, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo to attend the talks, the lack of communication on non-attendance showed a lack of commitment on their part.