Kenya's top prosecutor has dropped charges against four opposition lawmakers over anti-government protests, a day after opposition leader Raila Odinga suspended the demonstrations.
Odinga who had called for the protests said on Sunday that he was ready for dialogue with President William Ruto, as long as the authorities halted arrests connected to the demonstrations, and addressed his concerns about the rising cost of living and reforms to the electoral system.
The four opposition MPs who included the leaders of Odinga's faction in both houses of parliament, were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly in late March, then released on bail.
On Monday, their lawyer, Danstan Omari said "the case has been withdrawn.’’ He told the Reuters news agency that the charges were dropped ‘’for the sake of peace, dialogue and justice between the accused persons and the state.’’
The move comes a day after the opposition called off the anti-government protests following an appeal by President William Ruto who promised to hold talks with his rivals.
Thousands of Kenyans took part in three marches over the past two weeks against soaring cost of living and alleged fraud in last year's presidential election.
The protests turned violent and the fourth demonstration had been planned for Monday but later cancelled by Mr Raila Odinga.
Following the suspension of the protests, Kenyan president William Ruto said he has asked the leaders of parliament to prioritise his government's ''proposal for a bipartisan approach to addressing the matters raised by the opposition.’’
In a tweet, the Kenyan leader said "we are convinced the issues shall be conclusively handled by Parliament in order to allow us focus on our economic transformation programme."
The U.S. Embassy in Kenya and regional bloc the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have joined local leaders in welcoming the moves for talks towards resolving the crisis.
