By David Himbara
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta made a surprise visit to Rwanda to make a speech and leave. In his speech, Kenyatta thanked his host, General Paul Kagame “for accepting my forced self-invitation, at short notice.” Kenyatta then spoke at length about the special relationship between Kenya and Rwanda.
As he put it, “let me say that the relationship between our two countries is probably one of the best relations that we have, as Kenya…We have many Kenyans living and working here in Rwanda and feeling very much at home. We have many Rwandans living and working in Kenya, really showing that we are brothers and sisters, bound at the hip.” There is a small problem, however.
Uganda lies between Rwanda and Kenya. If Kenyans and Rwandans are bound at the hip, then Uganda is the blood vessel that supplies the joint hips. Kenyatta seemed to recognize this in his speech when he said that “we have challenges – let’s not hide those away.” Dear General Kagame, whatever stunt you tried to play by inviting Kenyatta to make a nice speech, you still have to deal with the mess you created with Uganda. Over to you.
After giving a speech in Rwanda at General Paul Kagame’s Leadership Retreat, President Uhuru Kenyatta headed straight to Uganda to meet President Yoweri Museveni. It appears Kenyatta is playing some kind of mediation role to end the Kagame-induced border crisis. Stay tuned.
