- President William Ruto has complained over hospitality to African leaders in global summits
- Ruto said African leaders are in some instances mistreated when they travel abroad to attend global meetings
- He explained that all 54 African leaders will not be travelling for the meetings but will be sending representatives
President William Ruto has expressed his dissatisfaction over the treatment African leaders receive when they travel abroad.
Efforts by the African Union in preventing, managing and resolving conflicts in the Continent are commendable. Now, countries must unite and adopt a common plan of action to combat terrorism and related criminality. That is how we will build a peaceful, secure, stable and… pic.twitter.com/pfkjjS7rrv
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Speaking at the Mo Ibrahim Governance Conversation, KICC, Nairobi, Ruto complained that sometimes they are mistreated when they travel to developed countries for seminars or meetings with world leaders.
“It is not intelligent for 54 (African Presidents) of us to go and sit before another gentleman from another place. Sometimes we are mistreated, we are loaded into buses like school kids. It is not right,” Ruto highlighted.
The President said the decision was arrived at by the members of the African Union saying a select few will represent them at the global talks.
“The decision that we have made as AU is that going forward if there is going to be a discussion between Africa and any other country we are going to be represented by the chair.
“A group of six or seven members should be able to represent Africa and that is the position I am taking as the President of Kenya, for any other meeting that we are going to have with all these requests,” he explained.
He explained that African states respect the sovereignty of other nations and therefore asking for reciprocation should not be a problem.
Miguna Miguna: Lesson against obscene opulence
Exiled Canada-based Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna has said that there is nothing bad with African leaders being transported by buses to Queen Elizabeth II’s burial.
Miguna stated that was the right thing to do since it prevents the waste of taxpayers’ money, asking African leaders to emulate that.
“There is nothing wrong with African presidents and prime ministers taking buses to the funeral of a colonial and racist monarch. It is the right thing to do. Good for tax-payers. excellent for the environment. And some antidote lesson against obscene opulence,” he said.
The lawyer’s sentiments came after Kenyans on social media elicited mixed reactions after a photo of African leaders being ferried on buses to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral went viral.
Among the leaders was President William Ruto; seated next to him was his wife Rachel Ruto, who was gazing outside the window and, directly in front of the First Lady, was Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu.
