Opposition leader Raila Odinga has set out three conditions to be met by President William Ruto before they can have ceasefire talks or ‘handshake’ to join the Kenya Kwanza government like he did with former President Uhuru Kenyatta in March 2018.
Raila wants President Ruto to push the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to open its servers for scrutiny of the August 9 presidential election results.
The Azimio leader who has been an angry man since losing to Ruto in last year’s general elections also wants the president to stop the ongoing recruitment of the IEBC commissioners.
The former Lang’ata MP further added that Ruto must reduce the cost of living comes because poor Kenyans are suffering.
“One, he must agree to open the server. Stop recruitment of IEBC commissioners and three is the issue of the cost of living in the country.
“Kenyans are suffering seriously. Some of them cannot put food on the table. Children are not going to school. The price of basic commodities unga, fuel is too high for the people,” Raila said.
The opposition veteran claimed that as things stand, there are no grounds for them to dialogue as he insisted that the electoral commission is a referee that cannot be picked by just one side of the political divide and negotiations are needed on how to handle it.
Odinga insists that they must look at ways of restructuring the IEBC, the same thing he turned a blind eye to after losing in 2017 and joining the government of Uhuru Kenyatta.
He claims that Ruto’s move to appoint a selection panel means he is not ready for any talks.
The Azimio leader’s demands on IEBC composition is that former Commissioners Juliana Cherera, Justus Nyangaya and Francis Wanderi be reinstated.
The three resigned after they were suspended by President William Ruto over attempts to subvert the will of Kenyans on August 9 general elections.
