Mr Odinga said they will resume protests on Monday to get their way.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cord leader Raila Odinga on Friday dug in over the impasse on the electoral commission.
The President has made it clear the impasse can only be broken through Parliament but Mr Odinga says he does not want to go that way.
This prompted business and church leaders on Friday to appeal for dialogue.
President Kenyatta shut the door to Opposition demands to reconstitute the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission outside Parliament.
Mr Odinga said they will resume protests on Monday to get their way since there was “no dialogue in sight”.
The President also dealt a blow to mediation efforts by the clergy to bring the two sides together when he told them that the provisions of the Constitution — which require Parliament to approve the changes — must be followed.
Speaking during the Friday’s national prayer breakfast at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, he said he would not be party to any agenda that seeks to undermine the constitution and that he was not ready to go to “tea rooms” to strike a deal.
After the prayers attended by Mr David Horsager, a US-born motivational speaker, the President and his deputy William Ruto met with religious leaders for about an hour and reiterated the need to respect the law in the reconstitution of the electoral body.
“We want dialogue like yesterday but it must be held within the confines of the law. Dialogue is not about going to the streets or meeting in tea rooms,” he told the leaders.
They included the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims Secretary-General Adan Wachu, National Council of Churches of Kenya general-secretary the Rev Canon Peter Karanja and Bishop Alfred Rotich of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops.
ADDRESS IEBC MATTER
He said the protesters were on the right side of the law and that Jubilee leadership was engaging in doublespeak since they removed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Mumo Matemu through coercion and cajoling.
“They blackmailed them, tried to entice them, bribed them with jobs to leave office. To date, Kenyans have never been told what crime he (Matemu) committed to be hounded out of office. The same administration that is saying we should use the constitution to remove IEBC commissioners did not do that, they abused it,” he said.
Mr Odinga said: “We are invoking Article 1 of the Constitution and that’s why we are asking the people to speak and ask for its disbandment.
We have tried Article 237, the popular amendment, but it was frustrated by the same electoral commission. We are on the side of the law on this issue,” he said.
And church leaders have vowed to soldier on with the mediation route until an amicable solution was found to the impasse.
The leaders who spoke to Saturday Nation after Safari Park prayers said though the President’s stand on the Parliament route was legitimate, the concerns raised by the Opposition and other sections of the society could no longer be wished away.
“The religious leaders implored on the President on why the softening of his stand is beneficial as well as looking for other avenues to avert what is an IEBC situation that’s fast getting out of hand is the best thing for the nation now,” a source told the Saturday Nation on Friday.
He said the President promised to meet them soon.
Speaking in Narok, the new head of the Anglican Church, Bishop Jackson ole Sapit, said the problems facing the country could neither be solved through demonstrations or threats, and that church leaders will work round-the-clock to ensure that the two teams are brought together for the sake of peace in the country.
“As the church, we will root for dialogue among leaders and let’s be open and sincere to each other on these issues affecting us.”
President Kenyatta favours the parliamentary approach, which has been taken up by a joint Justice and Legal Affairs Committee comprising of Members of National Assembly and Senate.
Another section of MPs led by Mukurwe-ini member Kabando wa Kabando are pushing for the formation of a select committee to handle the matter.
PEACEFUL SOLUTION
During the breakfast meeting, President Kenyatta made it clear that he would not negotiate with the Opposition outside the parameters provided for by the supreme law saying he took an oath to defend it.
“The constitution will outlive all of us. Let us go by its teachings. The oath I took was to defend and protect the constitution and I shall because that is the consistency of my word. I shall obey and shall follow that constitution whether it is convenient or inconvenient for me,” he said.
Mr Odinga, who met with the President last Tuesday at State House, is demanding talks outside Parliament to remove the commissioners because of fears that Jubilee might use its numerical advantage in both Houses to frustrate them.
Claims by Mr Odinga that a deal had been struck to form a 10-member team of MPs to draft the changes have been vehemently denied by State House while Mr Ruto has termed it “deceit”.
When Kiambu Town MP Jude Njomo asked God to intervene in the crisis, the President said God had already helped the country to have a constitution and that it was time “for us to follow it”.
“God gave us a way forward when he helped us put in place a new constitution. God has done his part it is now us to do our part. It is as simple as that. God has more important things to do for us, including to helping us deal with poverty, ignorance, unemployment and unity. On the electoral commission read the constitution,” President Kenyatta said.
The MP had asked God to intervene in the matter when he prayed for national cohesion.
Mr Ruto assured that they would find a solution to the crisis but assured Kenyans that the next elections will be peaceful.
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