'Keep Gachagua out of your future engagements with Raila,' Ngunyi warns Ruto

He believes that Uhuru brokered the deal between Ruto and Raila

Piece by: FELIX KIPKEMOI
Politics

• He termed the move by Ruto to soften his stance an act of statesmanship.

• In his address to the nation Sunday, the head of state announced a bi-partisan engagement in Parliament on the reconstitution of the IEBC panel.

Mutahi Ngunyi.
Image: The-Star

Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi now wants President William Ruto to keep his deputy in the dark about his future engagement with Azimio leader Raila Odinga.

According to Ngunyi, retired president Uhuru Kenyatta may have brokered the deal that saw the two drop their hard-line positions.

“Whatever you do hereafter, keep Gachagua out of it. And, I believe Uhuru Kenyatta brokered this deal,” he said.

Lauding Ruto for softening his stance towards the opposition leader and agreeing to some of his demands, Ngunyi termed it an act of statesmanship.

“Bravo President William Ruto. What you did today by climbing down was statesmanship,” he said while similarly thanking Raila for agreeing to suspend the demonstrations.

In his address to the nation Sunday, the head of state heeded the opposition call announcing a bi-partisan engagement in Parliament on the reconstitution of the IEBC panel.

He, however, maintained that the talks must be based on sincere deliberations anchored on the rule of law.

"I urge Raila and the opposition to call off the demonstration and give bi- partisan approach for us to take Kenya forward," he said.

"Our position is that we want to engage our brothers and sisters on the other side on issues that are important to Kenyans, them as an opposition, us as a government.”

On his part, Raila acknowledged Ruto’s olive branch for a dialogue on key issues raised by Azimio La Umoja terming it a positive development.

"We are ready to engage and we will engage without any form of corruption and this process should start as early as tomorrow," he stated. 

The ODM leader warned that the mass protests would resume after a week if no meaningful progress is made.

Gachagua had on April 1, warned Raila against holding continuous demonstrations in Kenya, saying Monday (today) will be the last day for the protests before the government “asserts its authority”.

“I want to assure the people of Kenya today from Kakamega that nobody, and I repeat nobody, will be allowed to destroy property anywhere in the Republic of Kenya,” he warned.

The DP was speaking in Malava, Kakamega during a thanksgiving ceremony of the area MP Injendi Malulu.

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