‘Dialogue not an option’: Karua terms Raila conclave as cover for Ruto’s repression

People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has dismissed the possibility of any discussions with President William Ruto’s administration through what ODM Party leader Raila Odinga has proposed as a ‘national conclave’ to address public discontent behind recent anti-government protests.

Odinga unsuccessfully challenged Ruto in the 2022 polls with Karua as his running mate, but allied with Ruto last year after being the de facto opposition leader, which saw him lose the support of some opposition members – Karua included – while some of his allies got nominated to top government positions.

Against the backdrop of deadly nationwide youth-led demos over high taxation, unemployment, government corruption and wastage, extrajudicial killings, and police brutality, Odinga has proposed the establishment of the so-called conclave to lead civic engagement and reform.

The broad-based, intergenerational forum, which he announced after the July 7 demos in which at least 38 people were killed, would gather voices from across the political, generational, and regional spectrum.

He said it should be tasked with crafting “irreducible reforms and changes necessary to take the country forward,” and should culminate in a referendum to give citizens the final say.

But Karua sees it as the rebirth of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), formed in the wake of the disputed 2022 presidential polls and subsequent anti-government demos, which she also opposed at the time.

In a Wednesday interview with NTV, the former justice minister said the proposals NADCO produced for governance, electoral processes, and public finances were a self-serving “pacifier” for Ruto’s administration to “lie to the people that something was going on.”

“Dialogue with the rogue Kenya Kwanza administration is not an option,” Karua said, “I want to remind my friend Raila Odinga that he went for NADCO talks I was against.”

“They were supposed to be for 90 days. They dragged on for a year. The outcome was not pro-people. Other than seats for the big boys, there was nothing for the people. The pressing issue then was the cost of living, which has continued to soar,” she added.

Karua argued that more talks would be useless “because William Ruto does not approach the issues with honesty. It’s lies, lies, and more lies. What we need today is adherence to the law.”

She criticised the government over the inquest into death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang’ in police custody after he was arrested for allegedly insulting the police Deputy Inspector General, Eliud Lagat.

“We have not been given the results of the investigation. Yet, Ojwang’ is dead because of a complaint by [Lagat]… How on earth can he be returned to work? And what amendment to the law can cure that? It is the impunity of the Kenya Kwanza regime that needs to be cured,” she said.

Karua detailed a phone call she made to Odinga earlier this month, urging him to reconsider his support for Ruto’s government.

“After Saba Saba,” she said, referencing the July 7 protests. “Either on the 8th or the 9th, I called him again, this time to ask him a question: as a person who has throughout most of his life fought for Kenyans, how does his conscience sit with the continuous bloodletting by the KK regime?”

Karua said she did not seek a debate with the ODM leader, but instead wanted to appeal to his conscience.

“I told him I didn't want a discussion; I just wanted to leave it with him. Isn't it time for him to reconsider his support for the KK regime? Isn't it time for him to withdraw?”

According to the PLP leader, Odinga responded by saying his call for a ‘conclave’ had been misunderstood. However, she said she refused to engage further on the matter.

“He did suggest that we should have a face-to-face meeting. And I told him I'm off to the U.S. I'm not in favour of a meeting at all over those matters, because William Ruto will use it as a pacifier; to pacify the people when the people get nothing, to consolidate and hit the people harder,” she said.

“What talk do you entertain with somebody whose boot is on the throat of Kenyans?... All I was appealing to Raila is please, and I'm telling him now through this show, withdraw your support. Stop the bloodletting. Kenyans will sort themselves out.”