Which Way For The Kenya Kwanza—Azimio Talks?

Under normal circumstances, corporate scene talks/negotiations, happen around certain pre-agreed guidelines from backend discussions on both sides.

When entering negotiations it is important to have the following.

BATNA—Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement.

WATNA — Worst Alternative to Negotiated Agreement.

ZOPA — Zone Of Possible Agreement

WAP— Walk Away Position

Before taking on these terms, let me take you back many years ago when I was in the corporate world.

My boss was recruiting for a business manager who could recruit, train, supervise and motivate a sales team, whilst delivering on set objectives.

At the end of a rigorous exercise, one guy emerged tops. This guy was well-exposed to the job at hand and had traveled the world extensively—an advantage that would help him bring unique value propositions to the company. He was ahead of the pack by a mile.

But just when he had been assured of the job, the boss received damning information about the candidate. He'd committed unforgivable acts at a previous place from where our company was getting good business.

My boss went ahead with the offer letter but he had reduced the salary to less than what the candidate was presently earning.

The candidate and our company had gone through the motions, BATNA, WATNA, ZOPA, and WAP. My boss delivered a letter below the Walk Away Position and ignored the functional Zone Of Possible Agreement during the negotiations and the candidate rejected it. The boss walked away clean and saved a revenue source that contributed 10% to our topline. To date the boss says, "I gave him an offer but he rejected it".

The Kenya Kwanza — Azimio talks are nothing but musical chairs with these negotiation terminologies coming on and off at will.

When one party insists that Electoral Commissioners who resigned or were removed through legal means must be reinstated as a condition to continue the talks, it equates to the boss's act of making an offer way below the negotiated amount. This only serves to expose the possibility of wanting the talks to collapse before they begin. And because, unlike corporate world negotiations, political talks have drama as a key ingredient. Buy popcorn.

What we see in these talks are smokescreens for what is wanted. These include the rejection of opposing party lineups to the negotiations and any slight thing that could help reject the flies on the wall.

Negotiations happening in tandem with violent demonstrations create the perfect atmosphere for power-sharing discussions and the resultant handshakes. Big boys use small things to communicate big messages. The entire population is the pawn in this Game of Thrones.

These talks will remain at sub-ZOPA and sub-WAP regions and for sure, one party will walk away. The only talks that will take place are those inside parliament where the Leader of the Opposition and his deputy will find a place to operate from lawfully once the bill creating their offices is passed by the house.

Will there be a power-sharing agreement? No, but we shall peacefully share the streets.

But something could change and only if BATNA, WATNA, and ZOPA take centre stage.