Azimio mediation team has maintained they will not be distracted by utterances from the Kenya Kwanza side but will instead focus on the mediation process starting on Wednesday.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka who is leading the opposition in the talks said their focus remains on the yet-to-start dialogue under the stewardship of the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Kalonzo who was reacting to Kenya Kwanza leaders said the opposition will approach the talks in good faith and urged their counterparts to also act in the best interest of the country.
“On certain utterances coming from the other side, I don’t want to talk about them. It’s below us to talk about them. We are focusing on Wednesday,” Kalonzo said on Monday.
“People can say what’s in their mind or what best pleases them but we have a nation to look after and therefore, we will be negotiating in good faith on our part, and anything that smacks of bad faith I am sure Kenyans will be able to see.”
The former Vice President spoke on Monday after chairing the Azimio meeting attended by the five members of the negotiation team as well as members of the defunct bipartisan team.
Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua also attended the opposition meeting at Serena, Nairobi.
Azimio had invited Kenya Kwanza for preliminary meeting on Monday at Serena, the government side in a quick rejoinder also proposed a meeting at a public space on Thursday this week.
The two sides have, however, now agreed to begin the talks on Wednesday at the Bomas of Kenya.
“Because we had announced that we would come here today, some of you may have found it necessary to come but it is now settled that we meet at Bomas on Wednesday at 11:30 am,” Kalonzo said.
“So today and tomorrow we shall be doing our internal consultations so that when we meet on Wednesday we want to be able to make as much progress as we can.”
In the past few days, the two camps have engaged in a public spat and political bravado that could spell doom for the yet-to-begin dialogue.
Suspicions about the intention of the talks amid fears of a possible handshake, especially in the Ruto wing, have made matters worse.
For the first time on Sunday, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi openly attacked the proposed dialogue in Ruto's presence, saying "nothing will come out of it."
"Your Excellency, I don't want to be a prophet of doom, I've never been but I've been in this space long enough to observe something. Nothing will come out of these so-called talks," Kingi said at an Interdenominational prayer meeting at Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri county.
The fresh roadblocks to the Ruto, Raila dialogue come in the wake of the collapse of a similar bid by a bipartisan parliamentary team.
The two sides have also clashed over the agenda of the dialogue as they accuse each other of trying to dictate the agenda of the talks.
The President's team has maintained their talks with the opposition will revolve around five issues.
They are the reconstitution of the IEBC, implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, the entrenchment of the Constituency Development Fund, establishment and entrenchment of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and embedment of the Office of Prime Cabinet Secretary.
“There shall be no discussion of whatever nature on matters handshake or nusu mkate,” Ichung’wah said on Wednesday.
However, the opposition has listed the cost of living, audit of 2022 polls, reconstitution of IEBC, inclusivity in national affairs and respect for political parties in line with the Constitution as the agenda for discussion.
