The U.S. government welcomed President William Ruto's decision to meet with azimio la Umoja coalition leader Raila Odinga and hold talks.
In a tweet, the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Witman, said that her government welcomes the agreement by President Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to establish a bipartisan process to find solutions that benefit all Kenyans.
We welcome the agreement by President Ruto and former PM Raila Odinga to establish a bipartisan process to find solutions that benefit all Kenyans. We commend both leaders for their commitment to peaceful dialogue and call on all parties to support this process.
— U.S. Ambassador Meg Whitman (@USAmbKenya) April 3, 2023
On Sunday, President William ruto had a press conference and called on the opposition leader to call off the weekly protests instead of considering talks towards a bipartisan parliamentary process in recruiting Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) commissioners.
Shortly after the president's media plea, the opposition leader agreed to call off the anti-government protests for a week to give talks a chance. However, the azimio la Umoja leader has promised to return to the streets if the negotiations are not fruitful.
Since the protests began on March 20, three persons have died. On Mondays and Thursdays, anti-riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters.
According to President Ruto, 400 people were wounded in the chaos, and many businesses and properties were looted and vandalised in Nairobi and Kisumu.
Odinga issued several conditions for Ruto's administration to meet before proceeding with the dialogue on Sunday, including unconditional release and the withdrawal of all charges against any Azimio supporter involved in the protests.
The coalition also demanded the reappointment of the four IEBC commissioners who were fired after rejecting the findings of the 2022 General Election, in which William Ruto was declared president-elect.
