President William Ruto is today (Thursday) expected to meet his regional counterparts in Kampala, Uganda amid recent diplomatic tiffs.
Ruto will be attending the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Heads of States’ meeting to discuss conflict between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu over Ethiopia’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state.
Leaders attending include; Samia Suluhu (Tanzania), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo.
The first in command, who will be on a two-day state visit, will also grace the 19th Non-Aligned Movement Summit (NAM) that started on Monday, January 15.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi represented the Head of State at the Summit on Wednesday.
In a statement, Mudavadi called for revitalizing of the NAM leadership to address emerging threats within the region on different matters.
“I called for collaborative solutions to surmount barriers to financial access, endorsing reforms in the international financial architecture, debt relief, concessional finance, grants, & de-risking lending instruments & boost investment in critical sectors that drive our economy,” read part of his statement.
A recent standoff between Kenya and Tanzania forced Prime CS Mudavadi to have a sit-down with his counterpart January Makamba over KQ flights standoff.
On Monday, Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority banned Kenya Airways flights to Dar es Salaam. This was after their Kenyan counterparts denied Tanzania’s request for all-cargo flight operations by Air Tanzania Company Limited.
Earlier this month, Uganda sued Kenya at the East African Court of Justice accusing Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) of denying them a license to import oil through the Mombasa Port.
To this effect, Presidents Ruto and Museveni are scheduled to have a meeting to iron out these issues, East African Community and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza confirmed.
