‘I am not boarding’, Wamalwa bows out of Ruto-Raila dialogue
NAIROBI, Kenya July 9 – “I am not boarding,” declared Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa on Tuesday, rejecting participation in the multi-sectoral national dialogue conference scheduled for July 15-20, 2024.
The six-day conference, spearheaded by President William Ruto and Azimio Leader Raila Odinga, aims to address Kenya’s ongoing crisis.
Despite being a co-principal in the opposition Azimio coalition chaired by Raila, Wamalwa stated he would not join the discussions.
“I am not boarding!” he wrote on his X account moments after President Ruto announced the timeliness of the dialogue conference.
A 150-strong forum—featuring 50 youth members and 100 representatives from religious institutions, civil society, professional organizations, and political parties—will convene to chart a path out of Kenya’s current crisis.
“We have had consultations and agreed that, to bring the country together to focus on the issues of priority, we will move ahead with the multisectoral forum,” he said.
Wamalwa has been a vocal critic of President Ruto and Raila’s dialogue initiatives from the beginning.
His dissent was evident early on when he declined to sign the final report of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), where he served as a representative of the opposition.
NADCO was founded to foster dialogue, and consensus, and propose constitutional, legal, and policy reforms addressing critical Kenyan concerns.
Its inception followed talks initiated by President Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila after violent protests from March to July 2023.
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