Gachagua: No Talks with Azimio Unless Raila Publicly Recognizes Ruto as President

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua says the government will not hold any dialogue with opposition leader Raila Odinga unless he recognizes William Ruto as Kenya’s president.

Gachagua, who spoke at a church service in Mathira, Nyeri County on Sunday, said the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition leader must do so publicly, or else no talks with commence between the two camps.

“Before we can even agree to talk to him, he must first acknowledge in public that William Ruto is the president of Kenya… How do you talk to somebody who doesn’t recognize your legitimacy? Tell your MPs, because they are elected, to talk to ours," said Gachagua.

The deputy president further described Odinga as an ordinary citizen who has no right to demand talks with the president, insisting that their engagement with the opposition will only be done through Parliament. 

 “But us, we cannot talk to Raila. On what grounds? Who is he in Kenya? He is just an ordinary citizen. But if he has his own personal issues, let him come and we listen to him. But we cannot have an engagement with Raila Odinga because who is he in Kenya? He is not elected by anybody,” Gachagua added.

Last week, Odinga agreed to call off bi-weekly anti-government protests to pave way for dialogue on the issues the opposition has raised, among them the high cost of living and reconstitution of the electoral commission.

This came after an appeal by President Ruto, who urged Odinga to suspend the demos to give room for a bipartisan parliamentary process on the hiring of new IEBC commissioners.

Odinga threatened to resume protests if no meaningful outcome is reached from the bipartisan talks.