President William Ruto has lauded the just-concluded bipartisan talks between members of the ruling party and the opposition coalition.
While addressing the nation Thursday, the head of state said the bipartisan process of national dialogue between Kenya Kwanza and Azimio has enabled leaders to find common ground on many of the issues whose resolution will accelerate Kenya’s transformation, deepen democracy, and entrench national unity.
“I salute the courage and patriotism of my fellow leaders who have embraced national dialogue and encourage all of us to keep up the noble work of bringing Kenyans together,” he said even as he expressed admiration for the work done by the committee established to spearhead the talks.
“I thank the two co-chairs, my brother Kalonzo Musyoka and the leader of majority Kimani Ichungwah for doing a wonderful job. Congratulations,”
The talks, according to the President, once again demonstrate that Kenyans always find the moral strength and political imagination to reach across the political divide and engage in dialogue in the spirit of goodwill, fraternity, and commitment to the national interest and the welfare of the nation.
“One of the greatest strengths of our country is our capacity to devise bold, unprecedented solutions to our threats and challenges, create imaginative strategies to avert danger, and chart new paths to deliver us from adversity,” he noted
He added; “There is no doubt that our nation has been confronted with immense pressure emanating from political misunderstanding and electoral disagreement arising from our robust democracy. Such pressure can disrupt lives and livelihoods and undermine our economy,”
The President highlighted the fact that the world is reeling from what he described as “destructive assaults on democracy and the relentless subversion of human dignity, freedom reigns supreme in our land” and that Kenya’s democracy grows deeper and more robust by the day.
“We are fortunate to be attempting this ambitious historic project of radical change in a bipartisan era when dialogue, consensus, collaboration, and partnership have replaced dissent, contention, conflict, and disarray, as the operating principles of political discourse,”
he said the coming together is an indicator that Kenya’s best fortunes are well within reach and expressed optimism that the current trend will help the country achieve the greatest transformation.
The President spoke at a time, the bipartisan committee announced the conclusion of its mandate.
“The National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) has today concluded deliberations after seventy-three (73) days of intense and informative bi-partisan deliberations,”
“We have over the period tackled all the thematic areas identified at the onset of the talks and emerging issues that come up from stakeholders during the negotiation period,” said CO-Chair and Azimio principal Kalonzo Musyoka.
In a statement, Kalonzo disclosed that a Technical Team will now retreat to prepare the final report that will be presented to the President.
“I take this opportunity to thank all the stakeholders who submitted memoranda and the experts who honoured our call to lend their voices as well as their considerable knowledge to this most important national dialogue,” he said
