Why Museveni, Kagame, Suluhu Were Missing At Kibaki State Funeral; ICT CS, Joe Mucheru
Kibaki State Funeral; ICT CS, Joe Mucheru Has Explained Why Museveni, Kagame, Suluhu Were Missing At Kibaki Funeral.
The East African Presidents, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame were conspicuously missing at Kibaki state funeral today 29, June 2022.
The East African Presidents sent their representatives to Kibaki’s State Funeral.
However, the ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru said the said Presidents were in Kenya in the last few weeks.
Mucheru was forced to respond after reports that East African Presidents had failed to show solidarity to Kenya by failing to attend the funeral service of the late President Mwai Kibaki
He explained there’s a protocol on how many times heads of state can visit the same country sparking a heated debate on social media.
“They (the Presidents) were here in Kenya twice in the last few weeks. There is a protocol on how many times heads of state can visit the same country. Don’t judge. Let’s give our late President an honorable sendoff. Thank you,” Mucheru stated.
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However, John Gachie and Prof Israel Kodiaga, renowned foreign affairs experts, and leading political analysts speaking to a local newspaper refuted an existence of such a protocol in Kenyan Laws.
Gachie first noted that the ceremony is a celebration rather than a national function that required diplomatic schedules and bookings.
He explained that the Presidents are invited as a show of good faith and relations between Kenya and her neighbours.
“This is a more solemn issue and you do not plan when a President would die. Protocols do not apply in such circumstances as to when signing trade agreements. In fact, this is a non-issue to warrant being addressed as it’s more of a matter of showing support to each other.
“All presidents owe, in the spirit of the federation, ought to stand with their sister country Kenya. There is nothing worse than not attending an event of such magnitude and mourning is part of the African culture,” he added.
Gachie refuted the existence of such a protocol while Kodiaga noted that the same is not enshrined in the 2010 Constitution.
“If it existed, then Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta would have been stopped from travelling abroad. He has flown out of the country several times in his two terms.
“I believe such guidelines are referred to in matters of budget expenditure and audits. The US has such protocols but those do not apply here in Kenya,” Israel Kodiaga argued.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir and former Malawi President Joyce Banda personally attended the State Funeral.
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