Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Tuesday, May 9, blamed the delays in meeting President William Ruto on failure by the 14-member bipartisan committee to agree on the way forward.
Speaking during an interview with digital media outlets, the ODM boss noted that he would meet Ruto after the committee conclusively reached an agreement over issues raised.
He added that it was too soon for them to meet yet their teams had not agreed on the framework for the truce.
Further, he gave an example of the 2007 post-election skirmishes where he met Former President Mwai Kibaki after their selected representatives reached an agreement over power sharing.
"When there were issues in 2007, Kibaki and my team sat under the leadership of Kofi Annan and after they reached an agreement, they came to us and we sat down together with former Tanzanian Presidents Jakaya Kikwete and Benjamin Mkapa.
"Therefore, the time for me to meet with Ruto face-to-face is yet to come," he stated.
On the other hand, he castigated Kenya Kwanza for the delays experienced in the bipartisan talks underlining the need for the team to resume negotiations earnestly.
He added that he decided to call off demonstrations after Ruto's team ceded ground following the visit of high-level dignitaries to the country among them United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"The problem is not just Ruto. The problem is the whole team of Kenya Kwanza. He is just one of them. There is no reason why I should meet with him yet his team will not do whatever we wish for," he stated.
"Now they are stalling the talks, they are saying that most of their members are not available in town until May 15," Raila claimed.
Ruto and Raila are yet to publicly meet since the 2022 General Election where the Kenya Kwanza candidate was declared the winner.
The bipartisan committee led by Rarieda Member of Parliament Otiende Amollo and his Tharaka counterpart George Murugara resumed talks on May 5, after Kenya Kwanza withdrew Eldas MP Adan Keynan from the team.
Keynan was replaced by Saku MP Ali Rasso Dido.
Additionally, the team resolved to have lawyers Paul Mwangi and Muthomi Thiankolu as point secretaries - a move that was pushed by Raila.
