Nairobi — Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Kimani Ichungwah is the right avenue to address grievances raised by the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition including electoral reforms and lowering the cost of living.
The Kikuyu legislator says parliament has a constitutional mandate to resolve matters that are of concern to the people.
This comes a day after President William Ruto has proposed a bi-partisan approach to resolve the ongoing stalemate with the opposition regarding the recruitment of new electoral commissioners, which partly contributed to calls for mass demonstrations across the country recently.
The Head of State called on opposition leader Raila Odinga to call off planned demonstrations to allow parliament to look into his concerns on the recruitment of the new commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
Raila, who accuses the IEBC of denying him victory in the last general election, accused the President of deliberate attempts to influence the recruitment of the new team that will replace commissioners who retired, resigned or were removed from office over gross misconduct and abuse of office.
Odinga has issued a raft of demands to the President William Ruto administration ahead of the dialogue.
Battle over IEBC
He lauded the bi-partisan approach in the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced by the President and also called for the reinstatement of Cherera Four.
Addressing journalists at his Capitol Hill Offices, he stated that it was unfair for Juliana Cherera, Francis Wanderi ,Justus Nyagaya, and Irene Masit to be the sacrificial lamb following the 2022 election results tussle.
Odinga on the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) through a bipartisan approach via Parliament.
Welcoming the move, Odinga called for the speedy initiation of the process to resolve the ongoing crisis in the political arena.
"In our view, this committee must be composed with immediate effect with strict deadlines for resolving the crisis facing the country," noted Odinga.
The opposition chief demanded that the Director Of Criminal Investigations should halt the arrest of demonstrators during the opposition's protest.
"In accepting the call for dialogue, we ask that all arrests and prosecutions related to our demonstrations be stopped with immediate effect,"he said.
