Nairobi News

General

Uhuru in Kampala for Museveni inauguration, Kagame absent


President Uhuru Kenyatta was among 11 African Heads of State who graced Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni’s swearing-in ceremony in Kampala on Wednesday.

But Rwanda’s Paul Kagame was conspicuously absent, fuelling speculation on increased tension between the two countries. Rwanda has closed the main border with Uganda at Gatuna for the past two years.

President Kenyatta left Nairobi for the hour-long trip to Kampala on Wednesday morning.

His entourage and movement caused a traffic snarl-up across Mombasa road heading to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in the morning. Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Racyelle Omamo accompanied President Kenyatta for this trip.

Other Presidents present at the event held at the Kololo grounds include Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi), Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Somalia), Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), Salva Kiir (South Sudan), Hage Geingob (Namibia), and Alpha Conde (Guinea).

Others are Sahle-Work Zewdw (Federal Republic of Ethiopia), Felix Antoine Tshikedi Tshilombo (Democratic Republic of Congo), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (Ghana), and Samia Suluhu (Tanzania).

South Sudan vice-president Malik Agar Eyr and Naledi Pandor, who is South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation were among the other dignitaries present

Museveni,76, was re-elected for a sixth-elective term in office after winning the January 2021 elections by 58%.

Museveni’s closest challenger Robert Kyagulanyi who is popularly referred to as Bobi Wine garnered 33% as per the official records by the Electoral Commission.

Should he complete this term, Museveni, a former guerrilla leader, will have ruled the tiny East African country for four decades.