President William Ruto and his nemesis Raila Odinga’s political battle is headed to Parliament as the House resumes its regular sittings on Tuesday afternoon.
The House is poised to be the next battlefront for the protagonists who have been tearing at each other in their public appearances and social engagements.
Parliament has the delicate task of weaving a truce between Raila and Ruto under the bipartisan approach agreed by both.
Top on the agenda upon resumption is the framework to implement the political settlement for which the parties have proposed a bipartisan committee.
Kenya Kwanza and opposition troops are expected to have highly-charged sessions in championing each side’s agenda to sail through.
The deep-set rivalry between the two major political divides has been playing out prominently in debates touching on the principals – Ruto and Raila.
With the unsettled political duel arising from the August 2022 elections, the situation is not expected to be any different – if the Twitter exchanges between the leaderships is anything to go by.
The focus will be mostly on how National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang'ula and his Senate counterpart Amason Kingi will steer the dialogue process.
President Ruto has called his troops to a parliamentary group meeting at State House Tuesday morning, from which he is expected to nominate seven members to the negotiations panel.
Raila named MPs Ledama Olekina (Narok), Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi), Enoch Wambua (Kitui), David Pkosing (Pokot South), Otiende Amollo (Rarieda), Millie Odhiambo (Suba North), and Amina Mnyazi (Malindi) as his representatives.
Even as the negotiation teams prepare for talks, there is some fear that the grandstanding by the hardliners could spill into the House.
This especially follows that Parliament is cued to deal with other critical legislations which have already sparked heated political exchanges.
The waters seem to have been stirred already by a raft of fresh demands by President Ruto’s team, a fact likely to further poison the planned talks with the opposition.
In the new demands, the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition wants Raila to first recognise Ruto as the duly elected and legitimate President before the talks begin.
Ruto team also wants a purely parliamentary initiative whose report would be submitted to the House leadership and “not strangers outside the August house”.
Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa told the Star that the ruling coalition will not entertain the idea of an ad hoc committee “reporting to any creature outside the House”.
“There is no ad hoc committee of Parliament that can report to strangers,” Barasa said on the phone.
On Sunday, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ruled out any engagement between the government and the opposition unless Raila formally recognises President Ruto.
The ODM boss has neither conceded defeat nor recognised Ruto as the legitimate President despite both IEBC and the apex court confirming that he won the August 9 polls.
The former Prime Minister has repeatedly termed Ruto’s presidency as illegitimate and a creation of a section of the IEBC commissioners led by ex-chairman Wafula Chebukati.
Gachagua wants the opposition chief to publicly recant the illegitimacy claims and recognise Ruto as President to pave way for the engagements.
“Before we can even agree to talk to him, he must first acknowledge in public that William Ruto is the President of Kenya… How do you talk to somebody who doesn’t recognise your legitimacy? Tell your MPs, because they are elected, to talk to ours," Gachagua said.
The push by the Raila team for an extra-parliamentary process akin to the National Accord of 2008 to run concurrently with the House team has also elicited outbursts from those against the plan.
Apart from the parliamentary initiative, Raila is adamant on an extra-parliamentary approach to comprehensively deal with issues that saw Azimio take to the streets in mass action.
But President Ruto last week told off the former premier to either take the parliamentary initiative or forget the dialogue altogether.
In what sets the tone for the underlying tiff, the Raila side says it is the government that needs the dialogue more than the opposition.
National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi slammed Gachagua over the new demands, insisting the opposition is not desperate for talks.
The Ugunja lawmaker told the Star that Azimio has made its demands known and it is up to the government to choose whether they want talks or not.
“We have made public our conditions, we have already gone ahead and unveiled our negotiation team, the ball is in their court,” he said in response to Gachagua's demands.
“It is up to them to choose whether they want dialogue or not. Remember we are not desperate for dialogue.”
Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi accused the DP of creating a toxic environment for talks, maintaining it was the government that reached out to Azimio and not vice versa.
“Gachagua should just shut up because anytime he opens his mouth he is making the situation not conducive for any talks,” Osotsi said.
“I saw the way he talks so arrogantly even saying Raila is a ‘nobody’. That kind of careless talk will not ignite positive engagements and for the record, it is not Raila who approached them for talks. It is themselves who sent an emissary to Azimio that they wanted to engage.”
The senator ruled out chances of Raila recognising Ruto’s legitimacy, saying Azimio will only take that route once IEBC servers are opened.
“If they are looking for legitimacy, then the best way is to open the servers so that if they won the elections fairly then we will recognise them,” he added.
Away from the dialogue process, the controversial Privatization Bill, 2023, which seeks to eliminate Parliament’s say in the sale of key assets, is also expected to be on the table for MPs.
The bill, which was approved by the Cabinet a few weeks ago, could be read for the first time in this session once it is published.
The National Assembly is also slated to deal with the budget process, having approved the 2023 Budget Policy Statement that sets spending limits for ministries and state agencies.
The 2023 budget and its accompanying instruments, including the Division of Revenue Bill, 2023 and the Finance Bill, 2023 are expected to be ready by June 30.
MPs will also adopt the Labour Committee report on alleged sexual offences targeting workers in Kericho tea estates.
A joint parliamentary ad hoc committee to entrench CDF, NGAAF, and other specialised funds into law is set to be established this session.
The House is also slated to conclude the general debate on proposals to amend the Constitution under Standing Orders and the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022.
MPs will ratify a defence cooperation agreement between Kenya and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island.
“The House Business Committee shall reconvene on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, to schedule business for the rest of the week,” National Assembly Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wah said.
The House awaits finalised reports on bills, treaties, approval hearings, inquiries and responses to statements which were brought in the last session.
