The much-awaited bipartisan talks yesterday kicked off in earnest with the ruling Kenya Kwanza and opposition Azimio teams agreeing that they will take 60 days to agree on the issues in contention.

Azimio leader Raila Odinga and his allies had demanded that the talks begin by yesterday, failure to which they would call their supporters to resume weekly street protests.

Azimio had also initially demanded that the talks be concluded in 30 days but has now supported the proposal to extend the term to 60. And whereas Azimio has presented five issues it wants discussed, Kenya Kwanza has presented seven.

Speaking after a day-long meeting at Bomas of Kenya, the Bipartisan Dialogue Committee co-chair and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo said the two teams had agreed on a preliminary list of issues for discussion for the first 30 days.

“In the context of it, we have discussed the question of time. You will remember that we in Azimio had given a timeframe of 30 days, and our colleagues in Kenya Kwanza had given a timeframe of 90 days. We have agreed to constrain that timeframe to 60 days. But within those 60 days, we have agreed that the more urgent issues will need to have been dealt with within 30 days,” said Otiende.

People Daily established that the team agreed to have 12 key issues that will guide the talks for the first 30 days.

From the 12, the Kenya Kwanza Administration tabled seven and Azimio five.

The Kenya Kwanza issues which were presented by Kakamega Senator Bonny Khalwale include; the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries IEBC commissioner selection panel, realisation of the two-thirds gender rule in the National Assembly, entrenchment of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) in law and the Constitution, and entrenching the National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF) and the Senate Oversight Funds in the Constitution.

Kenya Kwanza also proposed creation of the office of Leader of the Opposition.

According to Khalwale, “resolving insecurity problems, including banditry and urban gangs, and proposing measures to deal with impunity on the part of those who should bear responsibility” was also an issue to be discussed.

The Kenya Kwanza team also wants a legal tool that will give effect to Article 37 of the Constitution, regulate the conduct, and assign responsibilities to different parties, including organisers of demonstrations.

Presidential election

To forestall a repeat of the events of August 15, last year at the Bomas of Kenya national presidential election results tallying centre, when chaos marred the declaration of presidential election results, Kenya Kwanza wants reforms that will ensure closure of electoral outcomes for post-election peace and national stability. Further, the team said they want a review of legal, policy and administrative safeguards to protect government and State institutions from State capture.

On the other hand, Azimio wants the cost of living discussed as a top agenda when the substantive talks begin. They also demanded an audit of the 2022 presidential election results.

They also want the reconstitution and restructuring of the electoral commission to be on the table. This, the team said, should be discussed alongside “related matters” that the team is yet to expound on.

Azimio is also keen to ensure the talks resolve outstanding constitutional matters; governance issues, effective checks and balances, and the question of boundaries delimitation, which, by law, is due by the end of the year. The opposition team further reiterated its demands for the talks not to be confined to legislators or to be a purely parliamentary process.

However, the talks got off to a rocky start after faction of the Jubilee Party associated with EALA MP Kanini Kega protested the composition of the negotiating team following the removal of Eldas MP Adan Keynan.

Jubilee, whose Party Leader is retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, is one of the three biggest parliamentary parties but is not represented in the talks. Kenya Kwanza had nominated Keynan but he was axed after Azimio said Kenya Kwanza had erred in picking him. Jubilee is an affiliate of Azimio but some of its MPs, led by Kega, have in the recent past indicated that they intend to shift allegiance and work with the government. A delegates meeting called by Uhuru hangs in the balance after Kega published a notice purporting to cancel it.

On the issue of the Jubilee party, Amollo said: “We received a letter from Jubilee Party protesting the removal of Adan Keynan and indicating that they need that matter addressed and gave notice that they shall be going to court. We agreed that the question of the constitution of respective teams is not for this team to discuss. That is for the Parliamentary Group and the respective coalitions”.

He said Jubilee Party was still part of Azimio, and if its members have any issue to raise, they should do so within the Azimio Coalition structures and should not present them to the bi-partisan team.

“If the choice to go to court as threatened is raised, then we will deal with that matter when it comes,” said Amollo.

Earlier, the Jubilee Party had demanded that its representative be included in the talks, failing which the party will seek redress in court.

In a letter to House Speakers dated Wednesday, May 10, the party’s Acting Secretary-General, Kanini Kega, said that they want the talks stopped because Jubilee was not involved in the deliberations.

“As the third largest political party in Parliament, we strongly protest the exclusion of Jubilee in the committee. We accordingly demand that no further deliberations on the proposed bipartisan process should proceed before our party representation in the process is factored in,” Kega said.

Earlier in the day, Raila had hit out at Kenya Kwanza in a press statement, accusing it of “attacking” Azimio parties.

“Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party remains very disturbed by the continuing efforts of Kenya Kwanza to cripple our member parties, especially the Jubilee Party,” he said, throwing yet another spanner in the works.

He described the attack as State sponsored, accusing UDA-allied Jubilee MPs of seeking to scuttle the talks by threatening to go to court to demand inclusion.

“These games could prove extremely costly,” he warned, even as he maintained that Azimio was still committed to the talks but would not negotiate out of fear.

Meanwhile, Amollo said debate about the nature of talks will be given priority.

“The nature of talks includes what we call formalisation of this team,” he said. “As we explained last week, we were exploring three channels. The first channel is the parliamentary route. We will also discuss the Executive route where you use an Executive Order to constitute the team. The other route is the sui generis route (where you don’t need to be formally constituted) provided there is political goodwill. Those three options are the ones we will be examining.”

Last month, Amollo had described the talks as “an extra-Parliamentary process initiated by the Principals of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition”, indicating that the talks should not be purely parliamentary as Kenya Kwanza had insisted.

These are among the issues the two teams are expected to start resolving when the talks enter day two today.