Ahead of the official inauguration of the Kenyan President-elect, William Ruto, Presidents from the East African Community would be expected to grace the ceremony planned to hold at Kasarani Sports Stadium in the country’s metropolis.
The dignitaries for the function include seventeen Presidents, eight Prime Ministers and Deputy Presidents, foreign ministers, special envoys and seven international organizations who have confirmed to personally attend the grand function slated for Tuesday, September 13.
US President Joe Biden who made this announcement on Saturday said the US presidential delegation would be in attendance to be led by US trade Representative Katherine Tai.
ALM gathered that Presidents from the east African countries to be in attendance are Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Évariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi), Felix Tshisekedi (DRC Congo), Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia) and Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan.
Others include Dennis Nguesso (Congo), Ismail Guelleh (Djibouti), Filipe Nyusi (Mozambique), Brahim Ghail (Sahrawi Republic), Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), Azali Assousmani (Comoros) and Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi.
Abiy Ahmed (Ethiopia), Umaro Embalo (Guinea Bissau) and Waveli Ramkalawan (Seychelles) will also attend.
Top representatives of the United Nations, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Commonwealth, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, African Union and European Union (EU) are also expected to attend.
Cuban deputy prime minister Ines Maria Chapman Waugh, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (Equatorial Guinea vice president), Mahamadu Bawumia ( Ghana vice president), David Mabuza ( South Africa vice president), Sorena Sattari (Iran vice president), Yemi Osinbajo (Nigeria vice president), Malik Agar (Sudan’s transitional council) and Maja Gojkovic (Serbia deputy prime minister ) will attend.
The speaker of Algeria Ibrahim Boughali, Togo’s Yawa Tsegan, former German president Christian Wuf, UK’s minister for Commonwealth Vicky Ford and India’s minister for external affairs Vellamvelli Muraleedharan will also be present.
The other members are the United States Kenya Ambassador Meg Whitman, Colin Allred the United States Representative Texas, the Honorable Mary Catherine Phee, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State and Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.
Japan will be represented by a special envoy of Prime Minister Makihara Hideki, South Korea will have Choung Byoung Gug who is the chairman of the central committee of the People Power Party and China will have Liu Yuxi, a special representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs.
Reliable sources said plans are now in top gear for the event with at least 20 Heads of State and government expected to attend the event and Kenyans are urged to be at the venue by 7 am.
At the time of filing this report, however, it was unclear if President Uhuru Kenyatta will attend the event but the citizens of the country have been assured of a stable transition programme notwithstanding Kenyatta’s reservations.
Also, it would be recalled that Kenya’s Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua had announced that Ruto, whose victory was upheld by the supreme court on Monday would be sworn-in seven days after the verdict.
