Fresh twist as Azimio now suspends bipartisan talks for 7 days

The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party has now made an abrupt about-turn and suspended its participation in the bipartisan talks for 7 days citing lack of goodwill from the Kenya Kwanza side on the issues they raised.

This comes despite both teams last week stating that they were happy with the progress of the talks, and that that they were making headway in arriving at peaceful agreements to resolve the matters of contention. 

The Azimio team, addressing the media after closed-door deliberations on Tuesday evening, said among the issues that have caused what they termed as "irreconcilable differences" in the dialogue include auditing of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) server.

The opposition faction, led by bipartisan Chair Otiende Amolo, noted that they’re hence going to consult their leaders for further direction.

“We understand two [of the issues raised by Kenya Kwanza], but the other issues are foreign to us, and we expected them to today explain to us, but they were not here,” said Amollo, who is also the Rarieda Member of Parliament.

“We conclude that our colleagues are not negotiating in good faith. According to our agreement, we've invoked Article 37 and we suspend these talks for seven days.”

In a subsequent press address, the Kenya Kwanza team led by George Muragara on their side said they’re open to continuing with the talks with a focus on the constitution of the IEBC.

Murugara, who is also the Tharaka MP, went ahead to dismiss Azimio’s claims of a stalemate, further adding that the talks will continue after the said 7 days.

“We last week agreed on the most fundamental issue of IEBC so that we begin discussion today. The issue of IEBC is so dear to us because of the current state of the IEBC,” he said.

“Our colleagues have however, insisted that the Selection Panel be suspended and the election servers be reserved. We've indicated to the them that the issue of servers is solely the responsibility of the commissioners. That is why we focused on the constitution of the poll body first.”

He added: “Our colleagues have decided to further consult for a week and we will prepare a response to that. There may be a lull today, but the talks are on.”