Raila Jnr & Eugene Wamalwa reject Ruto, Raila dialogue call
Former Defence CS Eugene Wamalwa and Raila Odinga Junior have renounced the fresh calls by President William Ruto and Azimio leader Raila Odinga to have a fresh national dialogue.
In an X post Junior said “Everybody is an individual please! Even people with the same exact names”.
On the other hand, Wamalwa while reacting to the calls said, “I am not boarding!”.
He becomes the second Azimio-affiliated leader to question the calls after Karua.
Karua in her reaction said for the talks to be successful, all parties must have goodwill, otherwise, it is just a trap.
The call for the talks came during the signing of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Amendment Bill, 2024.
The Bill is one of the key implementations that are a result of the National Dialogue Committee talks.
The Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader is one of the people who represented the Opposition in the NADCO talks.
He, however, denied the final report from the talks but has maintained his ties to the Opposition.
Wamalwa said that he does not believe they did justice to the issue that was most pressing to Kenyans, which is the cost of living.
He said that he would also not accept any allowances as a result of taking part in the talks.
He insisted the report was still a burden to Kenyans.
“l didn’t and will not append my signature to the NADCO report, and have not and will not accept any sitting allowance for the same because l believe we did not do justice to the single most important issue to Kenyans i.e cost of living,” Wamalwa said.
President and the former Prime Minister agreed to commence a six-day multi-sectorial forum.
The forum, set to begin on Monday, July 15 and conclude on Saturday, will foster national dialogue and seek lasting solutions to Kenya’s pressing issues.
President Ruto emphasised the importance of the forum stating that it will propose the way forward for the country.
“This forum will begin on Monday, next week and end on Saturday next week. It will be a 6-day forum and will propose the way forward for the country,” Ruto said
The ODM leader reiterated the importance of the forum, saying that it will give Kenyans a chance to be heard.
“Dialogue is the way forward out of the crisis we’re having in our country,” Raila added.
“We have agreed that we give people an opportunity to be heard, to express themselves so that a lasting solution can be found,” he said.