Dialogue is best way out of our crisis, says opposition chief

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga reiterated Tuesday that national dialogue is the best way out of the situation Kenya finds itself.

The Azimio la Umoja leader said the national multi-sectoral forum convened by President William Ruto will provide a platform for the much-needed conversation on how to turn around the country’s state of affairs.

“After extensive consultations, we have agreed that dialogue is the way forward out of the crisis that we having today in our country,” he said

Raila, who had joined the President and other leaders during the signing of the IEBC Amendment Bill 2024 at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC), noted that the talks will give Kenyans a chance to air their issues of concern and how best to address them.

“We have agreed that people be given an opportunity to be heard to express themselves and bring out grievances hailing our country so that lasting solution can be found,”

“We want it (dialogue) to be a very engaging conversation on the way forward, that will deal with fundamental issues affecting our society today. We know they are many but they are solvable,” he said

President Ruto announced that the National Multi-Sectoral Forum will begin next week and will take a maximum of 7 days. According to Raila those who will form part of the talks will begin the conversation by identifying and coming up with solutions to established grievances.

“We believe this forum will help us move forward,” said Raila who further expressed his desire for “representatives from political parties, religious groups, civil society, from the working community, employers, professionals and intellectuals of our country and the Youth who are a majority of the society today, to be properly heard,”

“The issue of unemployment, corruption, ethnicity, debt, and management of the economy are issues that we need to talk about. We look forward to getting this process (national dialogue) started,” He said