Sylvanus Osoro, Member of Parliament for South Mugirango, has dismissed claims that the withdrawal of cases against Azimio-allied leaders on Monday is related to a partial truce between President William Ruto and azimio la Umoja coalition leader Raila Odinga.

This comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji dropped all charges against six Azimio leaders arrested during the anti-government demonstrations, including Ugunja MP James Opiyo Wandayi, Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo and Amina Laura Mnyazi (Malindi).

PHOTO | COURTESY Osoro

On Tuesday, during a Citizen TV's Daybreak programme, MP Osoro stated that there is no connection between the two incidents and that the DPP was acting independently on his mandate, just that it happened after the truce.

"The president committed that he will respect the independence of institutions. There is nothing linked with Raila's statement to the withdrawal of these cases it ought to have happened," said MP Osoro.

"I don't know why it took so long. It was unnecessary to have the DPP approve those charges." he added.

The National Assembly Majority Whip said that independent institutions should not be involved in political matters, reiterating that the government is committed to not using the institutions to affect political decisions.

PHOTO | COURTESY Raila Odinga

"Any person linking political issues to the police machinery or independent bodies should cease and I think that must be clear that the president or our coalition has no interest to use the criminal justice system to settle political scores," he noted.

On Sunday, azimio la Umoja coalition leader raila odinga called off the anti-government protests to give way for talks with the government. However, he promised that the protests would resume after a week. 

The unites states have congratulated the two leaders for their willingness to talk. 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.