Kimani Ichung'wah Insists Cost Of Living Won't Be Part Of Kenya Kwanza-Azimio Talks: "It Was Agreed"

• Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah released a statement indicating that Azimio and Kenya Kwanza, the two warring factions, will hold mediation talks
• Ichung´wah slammed the opposition, Azimio, for asking President William Ruto, in his first finance act, to do away with some issues
• Azimio, however, has maintained the high cost of living is its main priority and not the issues listed by the Kenya Kwanza government

Nairobi - National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah has stood by his statement indicating that both Kenya Kwanza and Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party will hold mediation talks.

Speaking to KTN News on Monday, July 31, Ichung'wah insisted that the issues that he released in his statement are the issues up for discussion.

"The five agenda items are what we were to form a committee on. But again, Kenyans need to ask themselves, why would two eminent persons, the name of a president, the republic, and a former prime minister agree to form a committee to discuss nothing?" he posed.

Kenya Kwanza manifesto

The Kikuyu MP claimed that his colleagues in Azimio know those five issues are agreed on.

"The question of the cost of living was discussed and it was agreed that it is the work of any government anywhere in the world to deal with the issues of the cost of living and the issues that concern the people," he added.

According to Ichung'wah, it is also the duty and responsibility of any opposition or any minority party within any democracy to criticise and offer alternatives, but it is not their work to force a government to implement its manifesto.

"A government is elected to implement its manifesto and it is agreed that the Kenya Kwanza manifesto is the one that won the election. It is what was sold to the people. The president has a duty and a responsibility to prove to Kenyans that what he told them during the campaigns was not just empty talk but something that he was meant to do," Ichung'wah further explained.

He slammed the opposition for asking President William Ruto in his first Finance Act to do away with some issues.

"There is no way you can tell the president to remove this and then put what we in the minority want. It has never worked anywhere in the world," he added.

Azimio tells off Kimani Ichung'wah

In a related story, TUKO.co.ke reported that the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party disowned a joint statement that Ichung'wah released, indicating that the two warring factions will hold mediation talks.

While admitting Azimio will participate in the mediation talks facilitated by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Opposition said it was yet to table its four-point agenda for the planned discourse.

Contrary to the statement that the majority leader released on his social media platforms, Azimio maintained the high cost of living is its main priority and not the issues listed by the Kenya Kwanza government.