The future of the electoral commission was yesterday a subject of intense political negotiations as the Government and the Opposition pushed for their respective positions, with the religious leaders trying to broker a deal.
In the end, there was a stalemate. Reason? The Opposition has issues with the forum for the talks and the size of the team. The Opposition wants talks outside Parliament, but the Jubilee coalition insists the talks must be done within Parliament. The Opposition had picked five people for the talks, while the Jubilee coalition had picked 11.
While Opposition leader Raila Odinga said the Opposition and the ruling Jubilee coalition had met and agreed, State House and the supposed team leader of the Jubilee team, Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, denied any preliminary talks about the dialogue.
Raila had said the two sides met and agreed on a four-member team to thrash out the thorny issue and issue a report within 24 hours.
"I am not aware because we were appointed by the President this morning. We are 11 members and we are supposed to meet with the CORD team so that we agree on the terms of reference. CORD was supposed to pick its team. Since the appointment, I have not met CORD and the President has not called me to tell me whether there has been any agreement with the CORD side. I am in Meru and cannot be in Nairobi to do what Raila is saying within 24 hours," said Kiraitu in an interview with The Standard last evening.
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A State House spokesman said there was no such deal.
"Raila should concentrate on appointing a team to face the Jubilee's 11. Jubilee met in the morning and appointed a team, which will seek the views of stakeholders to be presented to the select committee so that the matter of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) can be resolved. Raila cannot purport to appoint a sub-committee for Jubilee. Kiraitu is not aware of this development and is on his way to Meru," said Munyori Buku, the Senior Director of Public Communications at State House.
Addressing a news conference at the CORD Secretariat in Nairobi's Capitol Hill at the close of day-long meetings between Opposition politicians and the clergy, Raila said he was happy.
Tension had started building when the Opposition initially refused to endorse the deal that the church leaders, who met the Jubilee leaders on Wednesday, had brokered to have a parliamentary select committee with equal membership from both Houses.
"We welcome the move by Jubilee to initiate the process. We are happy that we are now talking with each other and not at each other. We have agreed on some issues but have picked a team of four people to look at the sticky ones. CORD will be led by Senator James Orengo and Eseli Simiyu. Jubilee team will be led by Senator Kiraitu Murungi. They will hold talks and report back in 24 hours," said Raila.
He added: "Things remain as they are until an agreement is reached. Once an agreement is reached, we are going to announce the next course of action."
Yesterday at the Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting in State House, Nairobi, the President insisted that the talks must be done within Parliament.
"There cannot be an alternative route to the Constitution... Dialogue is not about Uhuru discussing with Raila. Dialogue is about institutions discussing with each other," said the President.
The religious leaders represented by Catholic Military Ordinariate Bishop Alfred Rotich and National Council of Churches of Kenya Canon Peter Karanja spent the day negotiating with Opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Moses Wetang'ula and Kalonzo Musyoka.
"There are signs of hope and we are still in the process of distilling the issues that are contentious. Discussions are still on. We encourage people to be patient," said the cleric.
The two religious leaders said even though the process was ongoing, they might not conclude them within the day.
"Dialogue is a process which is ongoing and we might not finish immediately. So far the negotiations have indicated a lot of hope. There is new-found rationality that the contentious issues are reducing," said Karanja.
The President and his deputy William Ruto led the MPs of the ruling coalition in picking 11 MPs to champion their cause on the future of the IEBC.
The duo entrusted veteran lawmaker Kiraitu Murungi with the crucial job of leading the charge against the Opposition side.
Kiraitu will lead senators Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo/Marakwet-URP), Beatrice Elachi (Nominated) and Fatuma Dullo (Nominated) to the negotiating table. The four will be joined by seven members of the National Assembly: Cecily Mbarire (Runyenyes-TNA), Naomi Shaban (Taveta-TNA), Moses Kuria (Gatundu South-TNA) Jimmy Angwenyi (Kitutu Chache North-TNA), Benjamin Washiali (Mumias East-UDF), Mohammed Mahmoud (Mandera West-URP) and Soipan Tuya (Narok-URP).
