File image of President William Ruto and US President Joe Biden
The United States Government, through its Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman has issued a statement following a truce between President William Ruto and Azimio Leader Raila Odinga.
In the statement released on Monday April 3, Ambassador Whitman noted that the US government welcomes the move by the two Kenyan leaders.
She noted that the ceasefire and the subsequent dialogue would benefit Kenyans greatly.
“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,” she announced in the statement.
This comes after President William Ruto stated his willingness to engage in dialogue with the opposition and requested that the demonstrations be called off.
According to the President, he remains open to honest, objective, and sincere deliberations based on the rule of law and the Constitution.
He, on the other hand, dismissed any demands for a handshake, claiming that such a system undermines accountability and oversight.
“I have always been ready to engage Kenyans of all walks of life, including elected and appointed leaders from across the political divide, and the religious fraternity on how to make our country better and more prosperous,” Ruto said on Sunday.
Raila shortly called off anti-government demos and agreed to hold bi-partisan engagement in Parliament.
“We acknowledge Mr Ruto’s olive branch for a dialogue on key issues raised by Azimio La Umoja. To us, this is a positive development,” Raila said.
