Nairobi — President William Ruto on Sunday opened the door for engagements with Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Leader Raila Odinga in what signaled a major step for a possible truce between the two leaders.

President Ruto addressed the nation at State House, Nairobi, and suggested that he was ready and willing to engage with Odinga on the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) through a bipartisan approach via Parliament.

Consequently, President Ruto asked Odinga to call off the planned anti-government protest scheduled for Monday.

“I have carefully listened to the issues raised by my friend Raila Odinga. In times like this, it is not about who is right or who is wrong. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak but it is also what it takes to sit down and listen,” he said.

Odinga has been pushing for the re-constitution of the Commission, insisting that President Ruto’s administration must prioritize the electoral reforms agenda.

The President subsequently exuded confidence that a bipartisan approach through the Parliamentary route would yield significant results in ending the impasse.

“When we engage in a bipartisan approach it is not a game of numbers it is a game of reason and how we put our arguments in a manner that carries not one side but all sides that is the essence of a bipartisan approach,” he said.

He decried that Azimio’s protests were detrimental to Kenya’s progress, especially on the economic front.

“The country’s economy has been hard hit, at a time when my administration is doing everything possible to salvage the economy from the deep hole it was in,” he said.

He however asserted that the seven-member panel that is overseeing the recruitment of the new commissioners was “a creation of the law”.