By Chris Muhizi for MCN.
William Ruto, the president of Kenya, has decided not to attend the next Russia-Africa Summit and will instead be represented by the African Union.
The President’s Spokesman, Hussein Mohamed, explained that Ruto had sent a message to the continental organization to represent the country’s wishes at the Summit, Moscow’s second since 2019 to attempt and forge ties with Africa while it is shunned by the West due to its conflict in Ukraine.
The African Union/African Continent is to be represented at partnership meetings between the African Union/African Continent and a partner country by members of the Bureau of the Assembly of the Union, as well as chairpersons of Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Chairperson of the Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) of AUDA-NEPAD, and the Chairperson of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). According to him, the skip is in accordance with Decision 762
President William Ruto will be represented at the Russia-Africa summit by representatives from the Africa Union, rather than by himself. This choice is in line with the opinion of African Heads of State and Government, who think that in order for Africa to have meaningful conversations with its international allies, partnership summits organized by outside parties need to be reviewed in order to create a strong framework for African Union partnerships, Mr. Mohamed said on Wednesday.
Delegates will talk on matters like “Partnership for Food Sovereignty,” which Konstantin Babkin, president of the New Commonwealth Industrial Union and the Rosspetsmash Association, will address. Other participants include Benedict Okey Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Andrey Guryev, President of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAFP), Boris Listov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Russian Agricultural Bank, and others.
Ruto recently criticized summits that invited African leaders to go to other locations, saying it was insulting to pack them onto buses as it was a school bus.