Kioni dismisses proposal for 6-Day multi-sectoral national dialogue » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 9 – Jubilee Party Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni has dismissed the proposal for a six-day multi-sectoral national dialogue proposed by President William Ruto, stating that it is time to implement the constitution rather than engage in more discussions.
The proposed dialogue was agreed on when President Ruto assembled political leaders, including longtime Opposition leader Raila Odinga, for the Bill signing ceremony on Tuesday further angering the GenZ’s who feel betrayed by the ruling elite.
This follows week of protests by GenZ’s who have demanded a raft of reforms in government, vowing total accountability on governance and the political class.
During the protests, more than 40 protesters were shot dead by police and at least 300 others injured in what has sparked even more anger against the government.
Kioni, a prominent member of the Azimio coalition, took to his X account to criticize the dialogue calls, listing previous attempts at consensus through dialogue that had not yielded tangible results.
“The Waki report, the Ndungu report, TJRC report, BBI report, the NADCO report— all these were done under ‘DIALOGUES’. How many more?” he posed.
Earlier, Kioni had posted that “guardians of the Kenyan state” were deploying the political class to intervene and rescue the state from its own people, avoiding what appears to be a precipice but is, in reality, a recurring political crisis.
His sentiments echoed those of his fellow Azimio coalition partner and Narc Kenya party leader, Martha Karua, who termed the dialogue talks as a trap that could be hijacked by the political class seeking to benefit from the call for reforms by Gen Z.
Kioni was conspicuously absent when President William Ruto, flanked by Azimio leader Raila Odinga, announced the six-day multi-sectoral convention, which will kick off on Monday.
The proposal was made when top political leaders witnessed the signing of the IEBC Bill which is a product the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO).
The proposed National Multisectoral Forum, aimed at addressing issues raised in recent Gen Z protests, would encompass 150 members, with 50 of them being youth.
The remaining 100 members will be drawn from religious institutions, civil society, professional organizations, political parties, and other stakeholders.
President Ruto said participants in the forum would bear their own costs in line with the government’s policy of austerity.
Odinga stated that leaders had agreed that dialogue was the way forward out of the current situation the country is in.
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