President William Ruto of Kenya reiterated his call for a “handshake” agreement with the nation’s opposition, which is led by Mr. Raila Odinga, and denied rumours that a coalition agreement with those who voted against him in the previous election was imminent.
At a press conference held with his Rwandan host Paul Kagame on Tuesday, President Ruto stated he was providing a space for the opposition to challenge his administration “without flinging stones.”
“As president, I owe it to the people of Kenya to provide leadership,” he said in Kigali, while responding to a journalist’s question on whether he will have a handshake with Mr Odinga.
“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.”
After two stressful weeks of widespread protests led by the opposition, his Kenya Kwanza party and the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance led by Mr. Odinga decided this week to settle their political differences through a parliamentary procedure.
Rethink demonstrations
When the demonstrations were becoming more violent, the decision was hailed as having spared the nation from unrest.
“The protests and demonstrations were acquiring an ugly and violent turn…It was time for them to reconsider those demonstrations,” Dr Ruto said.
Among other things, Kenyans were protesting the high cost of living. The opposition leaders demanded that the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission’s servers be unlocked in order to determine who actually won the most recent presidential election and that the hiring of new electoral commissioners be halted at the same time.
In order to handle the election-related issues, the two parties have since decided to organize special parliamentary teams.
‘Handshake’
A vague coalition agreement between the government and the opposition is referred to as a “handshake” in Kenya. The deputy president at the time, Dr. Ruto, claims that Mr. Odinga’s agreement with Dr. Kenyatta’s predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, hampered progress.
“We are a democracy and a democracy is underpinned by a system of checks and balances, where you have a government and an opposition,” he said.
“The people of Kenya do not want a system where democracy is undermined. I am a great believer in a system where there are checks and balances.”
On President Kagame’s request, Dr. Ruto is spending two days in Kigali.
The two presidents are talking about a range of topics, including trade and regional security.
