Khartoum invite of Uhuru to fortify ties
What you need to know:
- “It has been a desire of not just me but his Excellency (President Uhuru Kenyatta) to visit the Sudan and we are hoping that we can do that soon.
- Bashir’s invitation signals a change in relations between the two eastern Africa nations that had been put on a damper for several years now. But it followed two key decisions by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
- She also announced a week later that she would be suspending investigations into Darfur killings, citing lack of support from the UN Security Council.
President Kenyatta has been invited to Khartoum for an official visit as the two countries hit out at the International Criminal Court.
The invite was delivered Monday during bilateral talks in Nairobi between Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and her Sudanese counterpart Ali Ahmed Karti.
Mr Karti said the visit would help “keep our relationship with Kenya”.
Mr Karti and Ms Mohamed also signed two agreements on political consultations as well as diplomatic cooperation.
Responding to the invite, Ms Amina told reporters that President Kenyatta would “hopefully” visit Khartoum in the first quarters of 2015 which means before April next year.
VISIT SUDAN
“It has been a desire of not just me but his Excellency (President Uhuru Kenyatta) to visit the Sudan and we are hoping that we can do that soon.
“And after that we are also hopeful that President Bashir will also pay us a visit,” said Ms Mohamed
Bashir’s invitation signals a change in relations between the two eastern Africa nations that had been put on a damper for several years now.
But it followed two key decisions by ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
Three weeks ago, she announced she was dropping crimes against humanity charges against President Uhuru Kenyatta.
She also announced a week later that she would be suspending investigations into Darfur killings, citing lack of support from the UN Security Council.
“The two ministers noted that the (ICC) outcome not only reinforced the role of the AU as a voice of the continent in the multilateral arena but also affirmed the sovereignty of African states,” a communiqué released after the ministers’ Monday meeting said.
