British PM invites President Uhuru Kenyatta for visit.

British PM invites Uhuru for visit



President Uhuru Kenyatta meets British High Commissioner to Kenya Dr. Christian Turner at State House, Nairobi on April 30, 2013. President Kenyatta is expected to visit London at Britain's invitation next week for a conference on Somalia. Photo/FILE NATION MEDIA GROUP


By ISAAC ONGIRI iongiri@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, May 3 2013 at 20:46


In Summary

• The high profile invitation of Mr Kenyatta is expected to effectively deal with doubt over the relationship between the West and Kenya over its election of two ICC suspects.
• Although it is unclear whether Mr Kenyatta will be honoured at Number 10 Downing Street where the British Prime Minister meets distinguished guests, Mr Bradshaw said arrangements for everything else in the tour were still being firmed up.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has accepted British Prime Minister David Cameron's invitation to London.

This will be the president's first visit to Europe since he won the March 4 general election.

The invitation is the first open diplomatic attempt to engage the new Kenyan President previously seen as being shunned by the West due to the ICC charges facing him and his Deputy William Ruto in The Hague.

Mr Kenyatta is expected to join other world leaders for this year's London conference on Somalia set to start on Tuesday.

The high profile invitation of Mr Kenyatta is expected to effectively deal with doubt over the relationship between the West and Kenya over its election of two ICC suspects.

Friday, the British High Commission confirmed that Mr Kenyatta had been invited to London where he will also hold bilateral talks with Mr Cameron.

"It is true that the Kenyan President has been invited to London. He will be attending an International Conference on Somali organised jointly by the British and the Somali governments," said Mr John Bradshaw, the head of communication at the High Commission in Nairobi.

He said Mr Cameron's invitation was delivered to Mr Kenyatta last week by the British High Commissioner to Kenya Christian Turner.

Kenya and Britain, although in a sound diplomatic relationship, have suffered cooled off trade engagements after the previous regime started courting the East, especially China.

"Kenya plays a vital role on Somalia, having nearly 5,000 troops in Somalia, and hosting more Somali refugees than any other nation," Mr Bradshaw said.

Although it is unclear whether Mr Kenyatta will be honoured at Number 10 Downing Street where the British Prime Minister meets distinguished guests, Mr Bradshaw said arrangements for everything else in the tour were still being firmed up.

Friday, the director of the Presidential Press Service Isaya Kabira confirmed that Mr Kenyatta had accepted the invitation and would be in London next week.

"He will be travelling to London on Sunday to attend the event which is mainly about the London Somali conference," he said.

British PM invites Uhuru for visit - Politics - nation.co.ke

From another perspective...


Kenya: 'Criminal' President Invited To UK

Uhuru Kenyatta is asked to take part in a UK-Somalia conference, months before he goes on trial for crimes against humanity.




Britian has invited a world leader who is indicted by the International Criminal Court to a conference in London next week.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has been asked to attend a conference on Somalia on Tuesday - co-hosted by both Britain and Somalia.

Mr Kenyatta, who won elections for the Kenyan presidency on March 4, is due to go on trial in July at The Hague for crimes against humanity. He stands accused of orchestrating violence in Kenya after the last presidential elections in 2007 and 2008 during which up to 1,500 died.

Britain has said it has a policy of only "essential contact" with anyone charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A Whitehall source said that having Mr Kenyatta at the conference "is seen as essential".

A spokesman for Kenya's High Commission in Nairobi said the High Commissioner had delivered a letter to Mr Kenyatta.

The commission said in a statement: "Kenya plays a vital role on Somalia, having nearly 5,000 troops in Somalia, and hosting more Somali refugees than any other nation."



January 2008: Violence broke out in the wake of the election


The statement said Mr Kenyatta and High Commissioner Christian Turner also "discussed how the two countries would work together not only on the shared agendas of regional security and stability, but also prosperity and development".

It added that London wanted to support Nairobi in its aims to double UK-Kenya trade.

Mr Kenyatta's election was predicted to pose problems for European countries and America, which are nervous about dealing with alleged criminals against humanity. Until recently, Kenya had been considered the West's ally in the war against Islamic extremism centred in Somalia.

Recent gains have been made in pushing back the al Shabaab militant group, which had come to control parts of Somalia after the US withdrawal in the late 1990s led to a power vacuum. Military victories against al Shabaab have in-part been spearheaded from Kenya, where the US has a base. Ethiopia has also played a major role.

Britain is also believed to be keen to keep Kenya on side in the fight against international terrorism.

In 2012, The British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) built a new base just outside the town of Nanyuki, about 80 miles north of Nairobi.

The London conference will be the first trip outside Africa for Mr Kenyatta since his election, which was held to be fraudulent by the losing candidate Raila Odinga.

Uhuru, meaning freedom, is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, who was put on trial by the ruling British colonial powers for inciting rebellion and kept in jail for seven years. After independence and Kenya being declared a republic, Jomo was promoted from interim prime minister to president.

Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, who also faces trial at the ICC, have both said they will co-operate fully with the ICC. They deny the charges against them.

Kenya: 'Criminal' President Invited To UK

The big powers must now come out in the open to redefine the meaning of war-crimes. According to them war-crimes are only committed in africa. When civlians in Afghanistan are caught victims in a bloody battles arent those crimes against humanity.

I predicted this shyt, like Tupacalypse!

Kiranga said:

I predicted this shyt, like Tupacalypse!

Click to expand...

You predicted the obvious?

I might as well predict the ICC charges will eventually get dropped. Or you beat me to that one too?

Nyani Ngabu said:

You predicted the obvious?

I might as well predict the ICC charges will eventually get dropped. Or you beat me to that one too?

Click to expand...

The obvious depends on your vantage point and disposition towards realism. Some people were adamantly lamenting on the doom that the Kenyan state will embark upon, with a Uhuru presidency. Raila famously propagated this.

I showed sense in stating the obvious prediction that the west need Uhuru more than Uhuru need the west at this point, what with Kenya being a vital trade partner and gateway to the bosom of Al-Shabab's territory.

I beat you to the "prediction" that the charges will be dropped, one day before Fatou Bensouda stammered about Muthaura's case being dropped due to lack of evidence.

I wouldn't put some people past a Quixotic quest for jugular juggler's justice.

Kiranga said:

The obvious depends on your vantage point and disposition towards realism. Some people were adamantly lamenting on the doom that the Kenyan state will embark upon, with a Uhuru presidency. I showed sense in stating the obvious prediction that the west need Uhuru more than Uhuru need the west at this point, what with Kenya being a vital trade partner and gateway to the bosom of Al-Shabab's territory.

I beat you to the "prediction" that the charges will be dropped, one day before Fatou Bensouda stammered about Muthaura's case being dropped due to lack of evidence.

I wouldn't put some people past a Quixotic quest for jugular juggler justice.

Click to expand...

Just today Ruto's trial start date has been pushed back. That to me is a harbinger of where the charges are heading.

And really anybody who knows a thing or two about how the West operates, how strategic Kenya is to their interests, couple that with their record of working with some of the cruelest dictators the world has ever seen, it was a no-brainer.

During the Reagan and Bush 41's administrations Mobutu visited the White House several times. Heck, even Saddam Hussein was once an ally of the West. And did I mention Osama....?

So, so long as you serve their interests they will like you and will invite you to hobnob with them.

Nyani Ngabu said:

Just today Ruto's trial start date has been pushed back. That to me is a harbinger of where the charges are heading.

And really anybody who knows a thing or two about how the West operates, how strategic Kenya is to their interests, couple that with their record of working with some of the cruelest dictators the world has ever seen, it was a no-brainer.

During the Reagan and Bush 41's administrations Mobutu visited the White House several times. Heck, even Saddam Hussein was once an ally of the West. And did I mention Osama....?

So, so long as you serve their interests they will like you and will invite you to hobnob with them.

Click to expand...

That Botswana Foreign Minister must be shaking with rage now.

There is realpolitik dictating events beyond the reach of any jurisprudence.

ACTIVISTS PLAN DEMO AGAINST UHURU UK VISIT



Monday, May 6, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY FRANCIS MUREITHI

President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to hold talks with UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron during his three day visit, the first to a western capital since his election.

Human rights activists in the UK are reportedly organising to hold demonstrations to protest what they say is a 'hypocritical manner' manner in which the British government has made a U-turn against in its stand towards the Kenyan government.

Uhuru left the country last night for the United Kingdom where he is also expected to attend the London Conference on Somalia. Uhuru is also expected address Kenyan Diaspora at a reception to be held tomorrow at the Intercontinental Hotel-Parklane –London.

“Kenyans should note that the event will be streamed live throughout the United Kingdom from 7 p.m. to 9.00 p.m,” said Ephraim Ngare High Commissioner for Kenya to the UK.

According to a media dispatched by the Presidential Press Service (PPS) yesterday, Uhuru will “hold bilateral meetings with UK Prime Minister David Cameron and other UK Government officials,” during his three day official visit.

It is expected the two leaders will discuss the relationship between Kenya and UK which has not been so rosy in the past few weeks. The human rights activists are reportedly engaging their International partners to organize demonstrations outside the venue of British-Somalia Conference which will be addressed by Uhuru and have sought to engage powerful such organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, The Africa Centre and Universities Equality and Human Rights to participate in the demonstrations.

Uhuru had been angered by British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner statements before the March 4 election that the UK would only have "essential contacts" with him if he was elected president because he is an ICC indictee.

Uhuru however agreed to meet Turner last week marking the first step of a possible cordial relation between the two governments. Uhuru’s meeting with Cameron is likely going to send a clear message to the world that UK has fully accepted Uhuru’s government and is ready to work with him in all fronts despite the criminal charges the President is facing at the ICC.

Uhuru, apart from discussing the relations of Kenya and UK, will explain the agenda of his government on Somalia where Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers are still hold up in the fight against the Al Shabaab group.

According to PPS, the London Conference on Somalia will discuss among other things, the Horn of Africa country’s political stability, security, maritime situation, public financial management as well as justice and policing.

Britain's high commissioner to Kenya, last week delivered the letter of invitation to Uhuru. The conference will be co-hosted by Cameron and Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

This will be Uhuru's first trip to Europe, apart from travelling to the Hague, since he was charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC in December 2010. His trial is due to start on July 9.

Some of the UK’s media and particularly Sky News have branded Uhuru as “criminal” President as a result of the ICC cases. Some Kenyans especially on social media had been urging Uhuru not to travel to London as it could be a trap to have him arrested and locked up at the Hague in Netherlands.

This however is unlikely as there is no warrant of arrest against Uhuru who has been cooperating with ICC since he was named as among the persons to be charged in relation to the 2008 post election violence.

A spokesman of Britain's Foreign Office has been quoted by the international press stating that the decision to invite Kenyatta was taken in part because the president had committed to cooperating with the court in The Hague.

In Nairobi, the British High Commissioner was kept waiting for three weeks before finally securing an appointment with the President. Uhuru reportedly refused to meet Turner after his inauguration on April 9. The High Commissioner had wanted to deliver a congratulatory message from Cameron.

UK, as a result, was forced to dispatch a senior intelligence officer who met with his counterpart in Kenya to discuss the difficulties Turner was having in getting the appointment.

ACTIVISTS PLAN DEMO AGAINST UHURU UK VISIT | The Star

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