President William Ruto: The Two Things Azimio Must Agree

President William Ruto has set two conditions the Azimio la Umoja coalition must agree with before the resumption of the bipartisan talks.

Speaking on Monday, August 7 in Mukurweini, Nyeri County, the President said the opposition must agree that there will be no handshake and violence in the country.

Ruto also said he is glad that Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga has declared he is not interested in a handshake.

"I heard yesterday they have agreed they don't want a handshake. Now I want to ask them we also agree to end violence and chaos and the destruction of property and businesses in our nation,” said Ruto.

The Head of State further said they will proceed to discuss other issues that the opposition wants to be addressed if Azimio agrees to the two non-negotiable demands.

“If we agree on those two that there is no handshake and there is no violence then we can proceed as a country and we can discuss the rest of the things,” Ruto added.

His sentiments come days after both Kenya Kwanza and Azimio unveiled their teams for bipartisan negotiations.

The Azimio teams include Kalonzo Musyoka, Opiyo Wandayi, Eugene Wamalwa, Okong’o Omogeni, and Amina Mnyazi.

Kenya Kwanza on the other hand will be represented by Kimani Ichung’wah, Aaron Cheruiyot, Cecily Mbarire, Hassan Omar, and Catherine Wambilianga.

Raila on Saturday threatened to announce the resumption of anti-government protests if the new bipartisan team does not agree on issues affecting the country within thirty days.

The opposition chief said Azimio is open to negotiating with the government but will not settle for anything less than what they are demanding.