Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung'wah, on Monday, April 4, refuted reports that President William Ruto secretly met former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in a deal that saw the latter call off anti-government protests.
According to the National Assembly leader of the majority, Ruto, also never called Raila via the phone, prior to the truce.
Ichung'wah addressed reports of the secret meeting after Kenya Kwanza parliamentary leaders held a meeting with Ruto at State House in Nairobi County.
"I can confirm that Ruto has not met with Raila Odinga. He has not even spoken with Raila, leave alone the handshake," he claimed, in what analysts argued may be Ichung'wah's move to stay entrenched in the precincts of power and assure Ruto of his loyalty.
In his statement, he also maintained that the agreement for a bi-partisan approach was not similar to the handshake between Raila and former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He asserted that the Head of State was keen on upholding the rule of law in the agreement to address the matters raised by Azimio through Parliament.
"A bipartisan approach is an approach that looks at the country's interest over and above the partisan interest because I may have my interests as the Kenya Kwanza side while Azimio has theirs.
"It has absolutely nothing to do with a handshake. I can see that some quarters are very happy with a handshake," he clarified.
Ichung'wah was responding to reports that Ruto held a secret meeting with Raila on Sunday, April 2, given that the duo was not seen in public in the better part of Sunday.
Reports indicated the meeting occurred hours before they called for separate press conferences. Notably, fake photos purporting to be from the meeting emerged online. One photo was traced to an event in 2020 at the house of former CS Raphael Tuju. Ruto and Raila visited Tuju, who was involved in a road accident.
Meanwhile, Ruto held a press conference calling on his rival to call off the protests minutes after 5 pm, while Raila held a presser after 7 pm.
"I urge my brother Raila Odinga and the opposition to call off the demonstrations and to give this bipartisan approach a chance to take the country forward," the President urged.
"In view of the foregoing, we stand down our demonstrations for Monday, April 3, 2023," Raila responded.
Notably, insiders, on the other hand, credited the truce to the intervention of Delaware Senator Chris Coons, who met with the duo separately earlier in the week.
