Duale's worrying statement on Uhuru-Raila deal
It is only Duale who last week hinted that Jubilee could work with ODM in 2022.
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Mr Duale told a local TV station in parliament buildings on Wednesday that the Uhuru Kenyatta camp would not be ready to dialogue on issues electoral justice and calls to restructure electoral boundaries, denying any additional instructions by his party boss on the matter.
A close look at the joint statement issued by President Uhuru and Mr Odinga on March 9, however, emphasized a need for collaborative effort to end animosity triggered by elections.
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“Talks between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga will not revolve around the push for electoral justice and restructuring of the countries governance. Jubilee Party will only engage in deliberations on the unity of the country and development,” Mr Duale said on Wednesday.
It is worth noting that the joint statement titled ‘Building Bridges to a new Kenyan Nation’ drafted by President Uhuru and Raila Odinga on March 9, raised four critical issues, among them divisive politics.
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“Kenyans need to overcome this negative cycle [of elections] by acting on the understanding that elections on their own are not the solution to our national challenges,” the joint statement reads in part, emphasizing earlier calls by Mr Odinga to have electoral justice and reforms in Kenya, in fact including a fresh election by August, 2018.
No idea of the talks
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Mr Duale, however, seems to have thrown a spanner in the works even as the country awaits in abetted breathe the next step the two leaders would be taking, after reports emerged that Mr Odinga was making ground for President Kenyatta’s to visit his Nyanza backyard.
Mr Duale now says he has not received any further instruction in regard to the truce the two leaders had at Harambee House, which brought a quite Kenya.
“I have no instructions so far on what to do as leader of Majority in as far as the famous handshake is concerned,” Mr Duale said in his office.
While the two leaders said they would form a unity office to see the implementation of common goals and agenda, many Kenyans, including confidants of the two leaders have no idea what the deal was about.
“We will be very clear; we will not be talking about the governance structure form the presidential structure to the parliamentary system. This actually will involve a referendum,” Mr Duale said hinting at some of the critical issues Mr Odinga may have demanded of President Kenyatta.
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He added: “We don’t want to put the country in an election mood as Jubilee. We want the country to be stable, and the President to be given an opportunity to deliver on his Big Four Agenda. So we are not amending the constitution to create position, I can tell you without any fear of contradiction.”
Meanwhile, it is understood that the two leaders agreed to establish a special office set to oversee the implementation of the key common objectives for the two leaders.
In a press statement sent to newsrooms minutes after a nearly two-hour closed door meeting, the two leaders settled on Ambassador Martin Kimani and lawyer Paul Mwangi (a close ally Of Mr Odinga) to lead the office, which will oversee the program.
“President Uhuru and Raila Odinga have agreed to roll out a program that will implement their shared objectives.”
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“The program shall establish an office and retain a retinue of advisors to assist ion the implementation. An official launch shall be held soon,” the statement seen by Pulse Live Kenya reads in part.
The two said in a joint statement that the roll out, or rather launching of the common office will be done soon, to commence the work, but failed to give the timelines of the launch.
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