The National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) has fired back at Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna over his criticisms of alleged delays in implementing the UDA-ODM 10-point agenda, rejecting claims that the committee has failed to deliver on its mandate.
Committee members broke their silence on Thursday, expressing frustration at what they described as a deliberate misrepresentation of their work.
NADCO warns against politicizing the implementation process
The committee issued a stern warning to politicians, urging them to stop politicizing the dialogue process. Members accused critics of distorting facts about NADCO’s progress and undermining the bipartisan initiative.
Sifuna, during a Tuesday interview, had criticized the committee for focusing on public consultations instead of submitting concrete findings – a characterization NADCO dismissed as misleading.
Sifuna highlights unfulfilled areas of the agreement
The Nairobi Senator identified key areas where he believes the UDA-ODM agreement has stalled, including auditing the 2022 elections, curbing extrajudicial killings, reducing unchecked government spending, and completing the transfer of devolved functions to counties.
“A comprehensive evaluation of the 2022 electoral process has not happened. I challenge Agnes Zani’s committee to show where this audit has taken place. Police officers have tortured and killed young people even after signing the MOU.
“All government arms should reduce travel budgets by 50 per cent, yet the Deputy President had Sh340 million allocated for travel and private choppers. The national government has not completed the transfer of all devolved functions to counties. Only Sh415 billion of the promised Sh450 billion has gone to counties,” Sifuna said.
He issued a stark ultimatum, noting that the MoU establishing NADCO is nearing its expiry and insisting the committee must deliver results within 30 days.
“We agreed with Baba to give these people six months. Those six months are over. We now have only one month to understand how this committee will deliver on all 10 points. Absolutely zero has been done,” he added.
Government bears ultimate responsibility
While recognizing NADCO’s oversight role, Sifuna stressed that the government carries the ultimate responsibility for implementing the bilateral agreement.
“From the beginning, there was no goodwill from President Ruto to implement the MOU. The committee was supposed to monitor, but the obligations are on the government,” he said, questioning the administration’s political will to honour the pact.
Sifuna set a firm deadline, warning that ODM will not entertain extensions beyond the MoU’s expiration on March 7, 2026.
NADCO defends its work
Committee Chair Agnes Zani rejected claims that the agenda had stalled, accusing critics of misrepresenting the committee’s work and interfering politically with a process designed to address national priorities.
“Today as part of stakeholders, we’re meeting PSs all together so that we can get in the data. We’ve also sent memorandum guides requesting for memoranda to be brought back to us across a raft of so many issues, and all this indicates the amount of work that has been put even then for us to be able to get to this point,” Zani said.
Vice Chair Javas Bigambo cited legislative progress aligning with NADCO recommendations, including the constitution of IEBC, new commissioners, and multiple election amendment laws currently in Parliament.
“When it comes to various issues regarding laws that were recommended by the NADCO report, a number of them, including, for example, the constitution of IEBC, have been enacted. We have new commissioners in office. Various election amendment laws and bills are in Parliament today at various stages. In fact, as we are speaking, close to 16 bills are at various stages in Parliament last evening,” he explained.
ODM insider challenges Sifuna
Committee member Fatuma Ibrahim, an ODM nominee, expressed disappointment at Sifuna for going public instead of consulting the committee directly.
“I’m an ODM nominee to this committee. My secretary general, Edwin Sifuna, said that this committee is not working and I was a bit disturbed by his statement. We are five members in this committee. Three are from ODM. He should have come to ask us our progress if he is honest about knowing the progress of the 10-point agenda and the NADCO report,” she said, highlighting internal tensions within ODM.
NADCO member Gabriel Oguda encouraged politicians to engage directly with the committee rather than criticizing from the sidelines.
“We are asking every politician in this country that if you feel that you’ve done everything Kenyans voted for you to do, please come to our committee and ask us to give you something to do,” he said.
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