Opposition chief Raila Odinga has convened an extraordinary meeting with his troops amid concerns Azimio's ceasefire deal with President William Ruto may suffer a stillbirth.
Raila will on Thursday retreat with his lieutenants to Machakos county to do a comprehensive postmortem of the deal that ended two weeks of violent street protests.
However, Raila's latest demands to have talks that mirror the 2008 National Accord, which ended the bloody post-election mayhem, have triggered fresh acrimony.
Government troops have accused the former Prime Minister of harbouring a hidden agenda and seeking to join government through the “back door”.
The new war of words has heightened concerns the talks may abort, with Raila and his troops threatening to return to the streets if Ruto's government turns a deaf ear to their new demands.
Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka, Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, DAP-K party leader Eugene Wamalwa and Jubilee secretary general Jeremiah Kioni will attend the meeting.
National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi told the Star the whole-day Stoni Athi Resort retreat will focus majorly on the ceasefire deal and chart the way forward for the coalition.
All Azimio elected governors, speakers, and leaders of majority and minority from county assemblies have also been invited to Machakos.
“As Azimio we have scheduled a Parliamentary Group meeting for tomorrow, April 6. It is an extraordinary PG meeting. We are going to appraise them [leaders] on the latest development and also seek their input to enrich our engagement going forward,” Wandayi said at his parliamentary office.
“We are also going to undertake the usual housekeeping business and, above all, we are going to use the opportunity to bond as members of one family so that as they go back to their bases they can carry out one single message on where we are and where we are going.”
Insiders have however billed Thursday’s meeting as crucial for the success of the deal many believe is facing stillbirth given the new position the ODM boss took on Tuesday.
The Azimio leadership is demanding an expanded mix of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary bipartisan talks to address the concerns Azimio coalition has raised.
But Ruto's troops now say accuse Raila of changing goalposts to bulldoze his way into government.
Movement for Democracy and Growth party leader David Ochieng’ hit out at Raila, saying his U-turn is suspect and confirms his appetite for getting a share of government through unconstitutional means.
Ochieng’ said Parliament as a constitutional body has the capacity to effectively tackle matters of public interest, terming talks outside the House “an outrageous demand”.
“Going by their demand, therefore, Azimio has demonstrated beyond doubt that they're totally uninterested in the issues affecting Kenyans as they claim but have hidden motives of joining government through illegal and unconstitutional means. If Azimio is interested in dialogue let them be honest and stop sideshows,” Ochieng’ said.
In 2008, Raila and then President Mwai Kibaki formed an eight-member team that recommended far-reaching constitutional reforms that eventually led to the formation of the grand coalition government.
The National Accord and Reconciliation Act of 2008 established the Prime Minister's office and two deputies within the grand coalition government.
Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot dismissed Raila’s National Accord model, saying the idea is illegal.
He ruled out that arrangement.
“We saw a man [Raila] walking back on things agreed on Sunday. Asking for a process similar to the National Accord is a euphemism for nusu mkate. We were warned not to engage Raila as he will say one thing today and change the next time,” he said.
“We are fully aware that we were both invited to make nominations to the [IEBC] selection panel, the minority said they were not interested. But if they’ve changed their mind, we can turn the other way and reason together with them. There are fundamentals that a bipartisan process must adhere to: It must be legal.”
Kesses MP Julius Rutto insisted the ODM boss had another agenda other than pushing the government to address issues around the high cost of living, audit of the last election and reconstitution of IEBC.
"Raila or people around him could be pushing another agenda. They seem to be pushing for nusu mkate but we want them to know they will not get it," he told journalists at a press conference in Parliament Buildings.
But Wandayi dismissed claims that the opposition is eyeing a share of Ruto’s government.
The Ugunja MP warned Kenya Kwanza counterparts against what he termed chest-thumping and linking the Azimio leader to a possible handshake and share of government.
“Let me reiterate for the umpteenth time that we are not interested in any form of handshake. We are not interested in sharing political power with anybody,” he said.
"We are not interested in any form of involvement in the affairs of government. This obsession with handshake, nusu mkate, is totally uncalled for. It demonstrates needless fears our counterparts are suffering from."
He however insisted that there must be preliminary talks before the dialogue to, among others, set ground rules, agree on terms of reference, agree on the structure and composition of the committee, the timeframe to undertake the assignment and how the proposals are going to be implemented.
“There is no harm in carrying out this dialogue in a more relaxed and flexible environment outside Parliament before transmitting the end results to Parliament to deal with. That does not amount to changing goalposts or bringing new conditions,” Wandayi said.
One of their demands, according to Wandayi, is that Parliament approves the negotiated pact without amendment should the talks take off.
“We are not short of options in terms of dealing with the situation that we are currently facing. The sovereign power still resides in the people and if all else fails we have no other recourse but to go back to the people, and therefore I want to appeal to all and sundry that let us approach this process soberly, objectively and with utmost respect to all players.”
Political analyst Javas Bigambo told the Star the Tuesday events confirm Raila’s intention of negotiating his way into the government.
“Anybody who argues that Raila does want to be incorporated in government is living a lie because that is what he wants. It is easy to predict Raila in some circumstances,” he said.
Soy MP David Kiplagat said President William Ruto was kind to Azimio and offered them an olive branch, warning that it should not be construed to mean weakness.
"Ruto proposed a bipartisan parliamentary process and Raila appeared to agree at first. We ask Raila to direct his energies to other things," he said.
Kiplagat added that Kenya Kwanza cannot succumb to threats by Azimio of returning to demonstrations if their demands are not met.
"You cannot threaten us that you will go back to the streets. We also know how to go to the streets," he added.