Homa Bay Man Interrupts Kalonzo, Ichung'wah During Bomas Bipartisan Talks: "Dialogue Should Be People Driven"

• Kenya Kwanza and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance Party have selected five representatives each to sit in the bipartisan talks committee
• Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah are co-chairing the committee's engagements
• The Homa Bay man said he had used his own fare to Nairobi because he was patriotic and wanted to inform the committee that the engagements as are, were not people-centred

A Kenyan politely interrupted the address of Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM) leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah as the two addressed the press about the status of the bi-partisan talks they are co-chairing.

Bipartisan talks at Bomas of Kenya

The bipartisan talks were achieved after President William Ruto and Azimio la Umoja One Kenya leader Raila Odinga privately met in Mombasa a month ago to deliberate on issues of contention between their political factions.

On Monday, August 14, as Kalonzo addressed the press at Bomas about the agendas and structure of the talks, a Kenyan who was neither a member of the 10-team man, nor a member of press cut in to the conversation.

The man who identified himself as Michael Otieno said he had traveled all the way from Homa Bay.

With him, he said, was a memoranda containing, what him and other Kenyans had discussed and wanted addressed by the committee constituting political leaders.

Homa Bay man at Bomas of Kenya

"As an interested party in the national dialogue based on the national principles of good governance and a patriotic citizen I had to pay my own coin to travel all the way here. We have our memoranda which we would like to submit to the committee.

"If you look at the committee it is made up of politicians. The dialogue in Kenya should be people driven, not leader-driven dialogue and the issues need to come from the people of the republic of Kenya," said Otieno.

He said that the leaders only needed to prioritise discussing issues raised by the people and not their interests so that the discussion would not leave out any group.

Bipartisan talks agenda

"The leaders can then sit and synchronise, then counter-check. This is by both technical teams. If these issues are to be presented before the bipartisan talks committee by the political outfit then they need to countercheck on whether what they are discussing corresponds with what we have. That way it will be people centred," Otieno argued.

He said, that was the only way that the majority Kenyans, Civil Society Organisations, religious leaders, People With Disabilities and other groups would not be left out in the talks.

Kalonzo gently responded to Otieno saying the matter had been raised by other like-minded Kenyans and the committee would give feedback after deliberations.

"It is a matter we briefly touched last time because, like you, other interested Kenyans could send memoranda, it is an issue for us to discuss and then give you the answers," Kalonzo said, to the satisfaction of Otieno.

During the first day of the talks, Ichung'wah was late to the venue and attributed the delay to bad weather.