Azimio La Umoja coalition has announced that it is calling off protests that were scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 3.
The Raila Odinga-led coalition demanded the removal of Aden Keynan from bipartisan talks, and the ruling Jubilee Party’s Kenya Kwanza agreed to drop him.
“This evening, the leadership of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party met and agreed to once more suspend the mass protests that we had earlier scheduled to continue tomorrow,” it said in a statement.
The protests were originally planned to demand the removal of Keynan from the talks, which are aimed at finding a solution to the country’s ongoing political stalemate.
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Azimio La Umoja coalition, led by Raila Odinga, issued a statement earlier signed by Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
According to the statement, the coalition expressed its willingness to cancel the protests only if Aden Keynan was replaced in the bipartisan talks aimed at resolving the political crisis.
“We appreciate the statement by Azimio on the resumption of talks. We appreciate the reconciliation tone from Azimio,” said Kimani Ichungwah, the Majority Leader in the National Assembly in a joint statement with his Senate counterpart Aaron Cheruiyot.
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“We have consulted with Keynan and he has agreed to recuse himself so that we make progress,” they said, “We have agreed to nominate Diddo Rasso so that these talks can continue.”
Keynan, who is the current chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Administration and National Security, has been accused of being biased and unsuitable for the role by the Azimio La Umoja coalition.
The Raila Odinga-led coalition threatened to take to the streets if Keynan was not removed from the talks, but with this latest development, it appears that the crisis has been averted for now.
The decision to drop Keynan from the talks was made during a meeting between the leaders of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio La Umoja, which was held on Wednesday.
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Following the meeting, a joint statement was released in which both parties expressed their commitment to finding a lasting solution to the political crisis.
This latest development comes after months of political unrest in the country, with tensions rising between different political factions.
