We are ready for dialogue to save the nation, ODM says

ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna. [File, Standard]

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has said it is ready to support measures, including national conversation, to restore lasting peace and address longstanding challenges in the country.

ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna on Friday said there is no table that the party will not sit at, if the destiny of the country is the main agenda.

He said the conversation should come ahead of any other issue surrounding the structure of national governance. 

“In order for us to have this national conversation, we call on the Government to take certain immediate steps to create the necessary environment. The decision to fire Cabinet was a good start. But the feeling across the country is that there still exists an atmosphere of fear that makes it impossible for people to speak freely,” Sifuna said during a press conference in Nairobi.

“As a party, ODM has never shied away from stepping up and having difficult conversations whenever the destiny of our nation is at stake. It is said that it is in times of crisis that leadership emerges,” Sifuna said.

The party insisted that the emerging issues and urgent need to address them is not about rescuing the Kenya Kwanza regime, insisting that the country is bigger than any Kenyan.

The crisis that the country has been experiencing, he said, was precipitated by failure to listen to each other and cannot be resolved by the same attitude.

“As a party, we shall not fear to engage with the country, and when we do, we shall not do that in fear,” said Sifuna.

Sifuna issued a statement after an ODM Central Management meeting.

The statement comes against the backdrop of protests against the government across the country.

It also follows the dismissal of the Cabinet and President William Ruto’s offer to consult different sectors and political formations towards forming what he described as a broad-based inclusive government.  

“We stand ready to support the country come up with measures that can restore lasting peace and stability and address the long-standing issues like unemployment, the unending search for justice and equality, fighting corruption, negative ethnicity, instil a tradition for meritocracy in appointment to public office and ending unfair and punitive economic and taxation policies,” he said.

ODM said the protests mark the beginning of honest and earnest efforts to address the issues raised by Kenyans.