Otiende Amollo: Why Azimio Snubbed Bipartisan Meeting With Kenya Kwanza

Azimio representatives in the bipartisan talks have revealed why they snubbed the meeting their Kenya Kwanza counterparts attended last Tuesday. 

On Saturday, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo said the primary reason was Kenya Kwanza's failure to co-sign and submit letters to the IEBC CEO and chairperson of the IEBC selection panel. In the letters, Azimio requested that the recruitment of commissioners be delayed until the conclusion of the talks and to make sure Marjan Hussein, the IEBC CEO, preserves the servers and the data therein. However, committee co-chair George Muragara insisted some of the demands were impossible to meet. 

"We went there with clean hearts but they were not committed. We wrote letters but they refused to co-sign and that is when we realized they are taking us in rounds...thinking we are fools. I am a lawyer and I understand this that is why we informed our leader (Raila) about our decision to quit," Otiende said. 

Murugara also clarified they were still open to talks if Azimio returned to the negotiating table. To that end, Otiende announced an indefinite suspension of the talks on May 31 in a letter to Murugara, adding that they would not issue a notice of dissolution until their concerns are addressed. Otiende further warned that there will be no elections in the country until they reach a consensus on appointing the IEBC commissioners. He stated that IEBC cannot function without Kenyans. 

According to reports, the recruitment of the commissioners is already in progress. IEBC recruitment panel chairman Nelson Makanda asserted that they have not given up on the task and had been constantly working on it.