Opposition leader Raila Odinga has insisted that he made a deal with President Uhuru Kenyatta over IEBC talks.
Raila said during their four-man lunch-hour meeting on Tuesday at State House Nairobi, they agreed to form a team to try to end the stalemate on the electoral agency.
"I can swear by the Bible that we have done what we agreed with our competitors and ready for negotiations outside Parliament," said Raila yesterday.
One of the agreements with President Uhuru was the need to disband the electoral body and establish a new team. They also agreed to do this through a joint team consisting of five members each from CORD and Jubilee.
Even as State House insisted there was no such deal, CORD has named five people to the 10-member mediation team.
The Opposition has also given the Jubilee administration until Sunday to give a list of their members that will negotiate and decide the fate of the electoral commission.
CORD has named senators James Orengo (Siaya), Johnstone Muthama (Machakos), and MPs Eseli Simiyu (Tongaren), Mishi Mboko (Mombasa) and Abdikadir Aden (Balambala) to the mediation team. It has also named lawyer Paul Mwangi and Grace Katasi as joint secretaries.
"Following the announcement CORD Principals at the Madaraka Day rally on the commitment of the coalition to national dialogue on various matters of national importance including reforms in the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and the promise to name a team of five to sit on the dialogue table, CORD has nominated members to represent it," said the statement sent to newsrooms.
But immediately after the statement was released, Mr Aden pulled out of the team, citing "personal reasons".
"Hi, just wanted to inform you that I have asked to be left out of the CORD negotiation team for personal reason," said a short text message that the Balambala MP circulated to media houses.
Raila said he was shocked that Deputy President William Ruto denounced the talks outside Parliament, saying they will only honour legitimised discussions that follow the rule of law
Bi-partisan talks
He wondered why Ruto and State House were trying to distance the Government from the bi-partisan talks held at State House.
Raila said he had reminded Ruto of how he successfully helped to broker peace in the Serena talks during the 2007 post-election violence.
The Opposition said they will be forced to go back to the streets on Monday if Jubilee does not name its team to mediate by Sunday.
Raila's vow that there was a deal came as Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetang'ula told the Senate that the talks centred around getting a team to talk outside Parliament, only that it was "inconclusive".
