Tag: William Ruto

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Tinubu arrives in Kenya for Africa/France Summit

President Bola Tinubu has arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, in the early hours of Monday to participate in the Africa/France Summit.

Tinubu’s aircraft touched down at approximately 00:18 a.m. local time. He was received on arrival by the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi; the High Commissioner of Kenya in Nigeria, Isaac Parashina; along with senior Kenyan government officials and members of Nigeria’s diplomatic mission in Kenya.

The Africa/France Summit will be co-hosted by William Ruto of Kenya and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Tinubu’s participation, according to the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, highlights Nigeria’s enduring commitment to advancing African unity, deepening regional economic cooperation, and fostering strategic partnerships to accelerate sustainable development across the continent.

The summit brings together heads of state, policymakers, business leaders, development partners, and key stakeholders from across Africa and beyond to deliberate on innovative pathways for economic transformation, trade expansion, digital innovation, infrastructure development, climate resilience, and collective prosperity for the continent.

During the event, Tinubu is expected to engage in high-level bilateral and multilateral discussions to strengthen Nigeria’s diplomatic and economic relations with fellow African nations while reaffirming Nigeria’s leadership role in shaping the continent’s future.

His attendance reflects the administration’s steadfast dedication to promoting Africa-driven solutions to continental challenges and advancing the Renewed Hope Agenda through strategic international engagement.

The President is accompanied on the trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu; the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari; the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola; the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; and the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani.

Others are the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPCO); the Minister of State designate for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye; the Director General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Omotenioye Majekodunmi; and the Nigerian Ambassador to France, Amb. Ayodele Oke. (Channels)

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Ex-Kenyan leader Raila Odinga buried after days of memorial events

Former Kenyan prime minister and revered long-time opposition leader Raila Odinga was buried in the west of the country after a service attended by thousands on Sunday.

“Now finally Baba is home,” his son, Raila Odinga junior, said beside his father’s casket, draped in the Kenyan flag.

The burial concluded days of memorials that at times led to chaos, with at least five mourners dying at other events and dozens injured at a public viewing on Saturday.

Odinga died on Wednesday aged 80 in an Indian hospital.

He became prime minister after the bloody and disputed 2007 election, and was the main opposition leader for many years, losing five presidential campaigns, most recently three years ago.

He retains a devotional following in the west of the country. Former US President Barack Obama, whose Kenyan family hails from the same region, called Odinga a “true champion of democracy”.

Politicians, relatives and throngs of his supporters waved Kenyan flags and held his picture aloft as they gathered at Sunday’s memorial service, which was held at a university in Bondo.

“Even in the grave, he still remains our hero,” one mourner told the AFP news agency.

Military personnel carried Odinga’s coffin to the front, where a choir sang and speakers, including Kenyan President William Ruto, remembered him.

“His courage, his vision, and his unyielding faith in our collective destiny will forever illuminate the path of our nation,” Ruto said in a post on Facebook about the event.

“His return to Bondo was not merely a homecoming; it was the embrace of a grateful Republic bidding farewell to one of its greatest sons, a patriot who devoted his life to the cause of justice, democracy, and the enduring unity of our beloved Kenya.”

Odinga was buried nearby at his late father’s homestead, where there is a family mausoleum.

Multiple memorial events had already taken place, including a state funeral in Nairobi on Friday and a public viewing in a stadium in his home city of Kisumu on Saturday.

At the viewing, tens of thousands filed past his open coffin, many crying out the phrase “we are orphans”.

At least three people were killed when police opened fire to disperse mourners, with dozens more injured in the chaotic scenes that followed. (BBC)

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10 dead, dozens injured in Kenya anti-govt protests – Rights group

Ten people died across Kenya during anti-government demonstrations on Monday, a rights group said, following clashes between police and protesters in the capital Nairobi’s outskirts.

The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) also accused the police of cooperating with criminal gangs, as a heavy deployment of the security forces kept much of central Nairobi deserted ahead of the annual marches to mark Saba Saba Day.

Meaning Seven Seven, the demonstrations commemorate July 7, 1990, when Kenyans rose up to demand a return to multi-party democracy after years of autocratic rule by then-president Daniel arap Moi.

The KNCHR said in a statement it “had documented ten fatalities, twenty-nine injuries” across 17 counties, but did not provide any further details.

From around midday, AFP saw running battles with groups of anti-riot police who fired teargas at small gatherings, with some of the crowd throwing rocks at officers and engaging in destructive looting.

Young Kenyans, frustrated over economic stagnation, corruption and police brutality, are once again engaging in protests that last month degenerated into looting and violence, leaving dozens dead and thousands of businesses destroyed.

Protesters accuse the authorities of paying armed vandals to discredit their movement, while the government has compared June’s demonstrations to an “attempted coup”.

On Monday, the streets of central Nairobi were quiet after police mounted roadblocks on the main roads, restricting entry to areas that were the epicentre of previous rallies.

Many businesses were closed for the day.

“I have never witnessed the city centre like this,” security guard Edmond Khayimba, 29, told AFP.

While the centre remained deserted, groups gathered on the outskirts in the afternoon with AFP reporters witnessing two people wounded, as well as looting and vandalism.

Protesters on a major highway clashed with police blocking their entry into the city, with the small crowds chanting: “Ruto Must Go”, a popular rallying cry against President William Ruto, and “wantam” meaning “one term”.

Again, AFP saw looting and property destruction in the surrounding area.

In its statement, the KNCHR noted the presence of “criminal gangs wielding crude weapons, including whips, wooden clubs, machetes, spears, bows and arrows” during the protests in a number of counties. It said that in Nairobi, “these hooded gangs were seen operating alongside police officers”.

It also said it had documented 37 arrests.

In comments to AFP, the National Police Service (NPS) spokesperson said that the KNCHR statements “may lack factualness many times over”.

The spokesperson also reiterated that the NPS “would never work alongside individuals called ‘goons’ or criminal elements”, a reference to the armed men paid to disrupt demonstrations.

Kipchumba Murkomen, the interior cabinet secretary, said recent demonstrations had “been infiltrated by criminals out to cause chaos and destruction”.

In a statement on X, he said the looting and violence had been “markedly reduced” by the officers’ presence, but promised those responsible would be “investigated and charged”. (Punch)

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Kenyan president visits China as country pivots away from the US

Kenyan President William Ruto has begun a five-day state visit to China, signalling a deepening of strategic and economic ties between the nations. Ruto’s first state visit to China since taking office in 2022 is being viewed by some as a strategic shift amid evolving geopolitical dynamics.

Ruto is expected to seek funding for key infrastructure projects, including the extension of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Malaba and a major highway project.

Deals worth €750 million have already been secured from seven Chinese companies, aimed at boosting Kenya’s manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors, according to Kenyan newspaper The Standard. 

Trade between China and Kenya is on the rise, with a reported 11.9 percent increase in the first quarter of 2025. China is Kenya’s largest trading partner and top import source, while Kenya is China’s biggest trade partner in East Africa.

President Xi Jinping is scheduled to host a welcome ceremony and banquet for Ruto, with discussions focused on strengthening cooperation within the Global South. Ruto has also expressed Kenya’s interest in joining the BRICS intergovernmental group of emerging economies.

Faced with stalled funding from the United States and trade friction, Kenya has turned to China, according to analysts.

Adhere Cavince, a Nairobi-based international relations researcher, quoted by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, says that US tariffs and reduced aid have pushed Ruto to seek new markets and investment from China.

Cavince sees Ruto’s visit as a “symbolic” win for Beijing. “Beijing’s hosting of Ruto amid escalating geopolitical and trade tensions with the US is a win for China in terms of optics,” he said. “Nairobi is not just an option [for China], it is also a strong gateway to the rest of Africa.”

The Chinese foreign ministry said the visit will “contribute to deepening China’s relations with Kenya” and promote “solidarity and cooperation” within the Global South.

On 8 April, US President Donald Trump imposed a baseline 10 percent tariff on Kenya, as part of a wide range of import tax measures.

Six days later, Beijing’s embassy in Nairobi took to X (formerly Twitter) to post an image of Communist China’s founder Mao Zedong and his 1946 remark that: “The US intimidates certain countries, stopping them from doing business with us. But America is just a paper tiger. Don’t believe it’s bluff. One poke, and it’ll burst.”

Meanwhile, Kenya is also pivoting away from European investors. On 11 April, Reuters reportedthat Nairobi will terminate a €1.3 billion highway expansion deal with a consortium led by France’s Vinci SA, with the project expected to go to a Chinese contractor instead.

The deal to turn 140km of single-lane road into a multilane highway linking the capital Nairobi to the Rift Valley city of Nakuru was signed in Paris in 2020, during a visit by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta. (RFI)