Raila holds talks with US senator who brokered 2018 handshake as bipartisan talks begin
By Wycliffe Nyamasege, August 13, 2023
Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday, August 13, held talks with US Senator Chris Coons for a second time this year amid the political standoff in the country.
In a brief statement, the opposition chief said he enjoyed exchanging notes with the senator credited with brokering a handshake between the former prime minister and retired President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018.
“It was a great pleasure as usual to meet and exchange notes with my friend Senator @ChrisCoons. An afternoon well spent,” Raila said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
It was a great pleasure as usual to meet and exchange notes with my friend Senator @ChrisCoons. An afternoon well spent. pic.twitter.com/DuXrzXSEiz
— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) August 13, 2023
Coons was in the country in March this year and held talks with Raila, Uhuru and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over the political situation in the country that saw the opposition call for weekly demonstrations to protest against the high cost of living and alleged electoral fraud in the August 2022 presidential poll. President William Ruto was out of the country at the time of the visit.
The Delaware lawmaker is believed to have influenced the decision for the warring parties to agree to bipartisan talks in May when the opposition suspended further protests to pave the way for dialogue.
The talks, however, collapsed in June forcing Raila to call for a fresh wave of protests to push Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration to listen to their grievances.
After deadly protests that left dozens of Kenyans dead and many injured, the opposition and the government recently agreed to form a 10-member committee to spearhead fresh talks dubbed “national dialogue”.
The committee held its inaugural meeting last Wednesday and is expected to meet this Monday when the agenda of the talks will be agreed upon.
Team leaders Kimani Ichungw’ah (Kenya Kwanza) and Kalonzo Musyoka (Azimio) said the first meeting was successful.
“The meeting had a good demonstration of faith. We will not discuss the matters out there over the weekend. You will see good order,” Kalonzo said.
The talks are being facilitated by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.