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Ruto and Raila rule out handshake.
President William Ruto of Kenya has ruled out the possibility of a handshake pact with Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga.
Speaking Tuesday at a joint press conference with his Rwandan counterpart and host, Paul Kagame, Ruto said he provided an environment for the opposition to check his government protests.
“As President, I owe it to the people of Kenya to provide leadership. I want to tell you there will be no handshake. But there will be an engagement in parliament on the issues that have been raised in parliament,” he said in Kigali.
Raila Odinga hit back almost immediately, saying he has no interest in a handshake with the Kenya Kwanza administration, particularly with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“We have never talked about the handshake. That is the language that has been coming from the other side. It is them that have been saying these people want Handshake and Nusu Mkate. Take it to Mr. Gachagua; I do not want even to shake his hands,” Odinga said.
On Sunday, April, Ruto and Odinga agreed to resolve their political differences through a parliamentary process after two tense weeks of mass action led by the opposition.
“I have carefully listened to the issues raised by my friend Raila Odinga. In times like these, it is not about who is right or who is wrong. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, but it is also what it takes to sit down and listen,” Ruto said.
“I urge Raila and the opposition to call off the demonstration and give bi- partisan approach for us to take Kenya forward,” the President added.
Shortly after, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya team, led by Odinga, held a press conference at Capitol Hill and responded to Ruto’s request to calm off the demonstrations.
“We acknowledge Mr. Ruto’s olive branch for a dialogue on key issues raised by Azimio La Umoja. To us, this is a positive development. In accepting the call for dialogue, we ask that all arrests and prosecutions related to our demonstrations be stopped with immediate effect,” he said, flanked by several Azimio la Umoja leaders.
However, the coalition said it had given Ruto and the government a week to address the issues raised by the Azimio coalition, failure to which he will go back to demonstrations.
“We agree that a balanced parliamentary process co-chaired by both sides & backed by experts from outside should proceed. In our view, this committee must be composed with immediate effect with strict deadlines for resolving the crisis facing the country,” he added.
Kenyans in Diaspora to wed at embassies
President William Ruto said on Wednesday that Attorney General Justin Muturi is working on the gazettement of Kenyan embassies as legally-recognized places of marriage.
Once this is done, Kenyans in the Diaspora will soon be able to marry at Kenyan embassies in their respective countries of residence.
“The Attorney General has given concurrence that he is going to gazette our embassies as a place you can get married,” Ruto said in Kigali during a meeting with Kenyans living in Rwanda.
Nonetheless, Ruto said the marriages would be according to Kenyan law. Thus, same-sex marriages will not be officiated regardless of whether the country of residence legally recognizes gay marriages.
“The law of Kenya will continue to apply. If you are a man, you can only get married to a woman, and if you’re a woman, to a man. That will continue to apply,” he said.
NCIC CEO suspended for faking her appointment letter
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Friday suspended its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for allegedly fabricating her appointment letter by adding two years to her 3-year period.
The commission has appointed Harrison Kariuki as the acting CEO. Dr. Ocharo has termed her suspension as unprocedural and unlawful, arguing it was unfair and that the letter she is alleged to have forged was indeed issued to her by the NCIC board.
Consequently, Dr. Skitter Wangeci Mbugua alias Skitter Ocharo, whose term would have terminated in November this year, will not be paid during her suspension. Ocharo came to the NCIC as CEO in December 2020, having been hired for three years.
Azimio unveils bipartisan Talks team
Azimio la Umoja One Kenya announced the team Thursday during an Azimio Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by coalition party leader Raila Odinga.
The following members were selected: Ledama Ole Kina (Narok Senator); Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi Senator); Enoch Wambua (Kitui Senator); Amina Mnyanzi (Malindi MP); Millie Odhiambo (Suba North MP); David Pkosing (Pokot South MP); and Otiende Amollo (Rarieda MP).
Odinga said the meeting was in preparation to send the coalition’s members to the bipartisan Parliamentary committee, as agreed on Sunday with Ruto, to call off anti-government protests and address its issues through parliament.
However, the former Prime Minister cautioned President Ruto that should the deliberations not bear the desired fruit, the weekly anti-government protests would resume.
“We shall send our members to the committee. The point of reference shall be lowering the cost of unga and electricity, audit of IEBC servers, reviewing the dismissal of the IEBC four, and for the government to consider restructuring IEBC by devolving its structures,” Odinga said.
“Should there be no meaningful engagements, we shall mobilize Kenyans again under Article 37. The monopoly of power can only be addressed by Kenyans through a constitutional review to end the imperial presidency,” he added.
Martha Karua, the Azimio co-principal and Odinga’s running mate in last year’s presidential election, on her part, rejected claims from a section of Kenya Kwanza lawmakers that the opposition was merely seeking a piece of the government.
“Anybody talking of nusu mkate, tell them in Azimio we eat full loaves. Wakifungua server watajua mkate ni ya nani. Tukipata mkate ni yetu tunachukua yote. What is the use of going to elections if we can’t know how people voted?” she said.
Kalonzo says Kambas let him down during the maandamano
Kalonzo Musyoka, the leader of the Wiper Democratic Movement and a co-principal in the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition Wednesday called out the Kamba nation for not participating in the nationwide anti-government demonstrations that were organized by the coalition to protest the high cost of living in the country.
The former Vice President told his tribespeople to emulate the Luo community.
“Kambas displayed utmost cowardice during the demonstrations. Kambas should emulate Luos to win the presidency. If you developed a spine, the whole nation would take notice. Winning the presidency will take more than pressuring Raila to declare his support to Kalonzo,” Musyoka said.
Musyoka is keen to inherit the many loyal followers of Raila Odinga, the leader of Azimio when Odinga retires from active politics.
AFRICA
Gabon lowers presidential term.
Barely five months to the presidential elections, the parliament in Gabon on Thursday voted to reduce the President’s term from seven to five years.
In addition, the vote automatically amended the Constitution and turned the presidential election into a single round.
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However, the opposition criticized the changes, particularly the end of two rounds of voting. It says the changes are meant to facilitate the re-election of Ali Bongo Ondimba, the current President of Gabon.
Tigray forms its regional government.
A cabinet of 27 members for Ethiopia’s Tigray Region was unveiled on Wednesday. This is the latest step in a peace process to end two years of gruesome conflict in the Northern Ethiopia region.
The cabinet includes members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and military commanders who fought federal forces during the war, according to Tigrai TV.
Forming an interim government was a vital tenet of a peace deal signed in South Africa’s capital Pretoria in November 2022 by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the TPLF.
In March, the Ethiopian government said TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda, the public face of the rebels during the war, had been appointed head of the interim government. That followed the Ethiopian parliament’s move to remove the TPLF from an official list of terrorist groups.
South Africa revoked the national state of disaster.
South Africa’s government on Wednesday rescinded the national “state of disaster” declared in February to manage a crippling electricity crisis but said that some emergency measures would remain in place.
The state of disaster gave the government additional powers to respond to the crisis, including by permitting emergency procurement procedures with fewer bureaucratic delays and less oversight.
“The government will now work to reduce the impact of power cuts using existing legislation and contingency arrangements,” Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Thembi Nkadimeng said in a statement.
Kagame promises to retire and become a journalist.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has said he looks forward to retiring and handing over power after 23 years in office.
Speaking in Kigali, Kagame said the ruling party was actively discussing a succession plan.
“We have been having this discussion within our party since 2010, but circumstances, challenges, and the history of Rwanda tend to dictate certain things,” he said.
“I’m sure one day I may join journalism in my old age. I’m looking forward to that,” he added.
Kagame is one of the longest serving African presidents currently in office.
He has cultivated an image of a competent leader who is widely respected worldwide, but critics have always pointed out his stronghold on power as a sign that he could become a dictator.
Kagame became the president of Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The genocide began on April 7, 1994, and lasted approximately 100 days until mid-July of the same year. During the genocide, about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.
At the time of the genocide, Paul Kagame was the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel group fighting against the Hutu-led government since 1990. The RPF gained control of the country after the genocide, and Kagame became the de facto leader of Rwanda in July 1994.
He was officially elected as president of Rwanda in 2000 and has been in power ever since.
Under his leadership, Rwanda is seen as a stable country that’s attracting a lot of foreign exchange.
YouTuber Wode Maya, who promotes Africa on social media, declared Rwanda the cleanest country in Africa.
South African pilot lands plane amid cobra scare in the cockpit
Local media reported that a South African pilot is being lauded for successfully making an emergency landing after noticing a cobra coiled under his seat.
Rudolph Erasmus is said to have been flying four passengers from Cape Town to the northern town of Nelspruit on Monday morning but was forced to cut short the journey after he felt something cold on his body.
“As I turned to my left and looked down, I saw the cobra putting its head back underneath my seat,” he is quoted as saying.
The South African civil aviation commissioner has hailed Erasmus as a hero.
He managed to make an emergency landing at Welkom.
But once the plane landed, the cobra was nowhere to be found.
Liberia signs peace pact ahead of October presidential election.
Political parties in Liberia Tuesday signed a peace pact to prevent violence ahead of the October presidential and legislative elections.
President George Weah said the accord signed by 26 political parties shows the country’s commitment to national stability during the polls.
“History has taught us that the risk of post-conflict countries to regress to war is extremely high. By any account, therefore, Liberia is a post-conflict success story,” Weah said.
The pact obliges signatories and their supporters to uphold peaceful elections and resort to constitutional means if dissatisfied with the electoral process and outcomes.
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