Wednesday, May 10, 2023 –Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition leader Raila Odinga has indicated that his time to meet with the head of State William Ruto will soon come.
Analogous to Kofi Annan talks of 2007/8, Mr. Odinga, on Tuesday May 9, indicated that the stages that led to his meeting with then President Mwai Kibaki after the 2007 volatile election may repeat in 2023 with Ruto.
“When there were issues in 2007, Kibaki and my team sat under the leadership of Kofi Annan and after they reached an agreement, they came to us and we sat down together with former Tanzanian Presidents Jakaya Kikwete and Benjamin Mkapa.
“Therefore, the time for me to meet with Ruto face-to-face is yet to come,” he stated in a press briefing held on Tuesday.
Both President William Ruto and the opposition leader Raila Odinga have refuted claims of having met for a ceasefire.
Ruto’s side has been claiming that any physical meeting with Mr. Odinga will mean contravening the law because there are Constitutional avenues available for any kind of talks to take place. They have been arguing that talks outside the Parliament will not be allowed to happen.
In their view, a replica of the March 2018 Handshake may lead to the disintegration of their Kenya Kwanza administration, the same way Jubilee ruling party started falling apart during the Handshake era.
DEBATE QUESTION: Do you believe the talks between government and the opposition may culminate into a Ruto-Raila handshake?
