Category: Foreign

TI’s Samuel Kimeu appointed to Africa Union’s anti-corruption board

The Brief

Transparency International-Kenya Executive Director Samuel Kimeu has been appointed as a board member of the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption for two years. Kimeu was sworn in on Monday in Arusha, Tanzania. Others sworn in are Aït Chalal Hocine of Algeria, who will serve his second and final term as a board member, Begoto Miarom of Chad, who was re-elected as chairman, Sefako Aaron Seema of Lesotho was elected as the vice-chairperson and Amal Mahmoud Amar Khalifa of Egypt, who will serve as the boards rapporteur. Amal Mahmoud Amar…

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You’ve helped us increase access to Europe market, Ruto tells outgoing EU envoy

The Brief

Kenya values its collaboration and partnership with the European Union, “especially in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure, climate change adaptation and counter-terrorism”, Deputy President William Ruto has said. “Our engagement has increased access to export markets in Europe, enhanced the volume of trade between Kenya and EU member states and strengthened support for the blue economy and maritime security,” Ruto said on Tuesday, when he bid farewell to outgoing EU ambassador Stefano Dejak. Dejak is leaving after finishing his tour of duty, which he started on September 15, 2015. His departure…

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Uhuru to hold talks with Jamaica PM in Kingston

The Brief

President Uhuru Kenyatta will next week visit Kingston for bilateral talks with Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness, State House has said. The two leaders and their respective delegations are expected to discuss and explore opportunities for enhanced bilateral relations between Kenya and Jamaica, a press statement to media houses by State House spokesperson Kanze Dena-Mararo said. Kenyatta and Holness last met in June last year at the G7 Summit in Quebec, Canada, where they discussed athletics, agriculture and trade. On boosting trade between the two countries, President Kenyatta and Prime…

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Sudan’s constitution amendment incorporates six-month pre-transition period

The Brief

South Sudan’s National Constitutional Amendment Committee re-submitted the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011 (Amendment) (No.6) Bill, 2019, to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs on Wednesday. The Bill was adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Incumbent TGoNU and forwarded to the Transitional National Legislative Assembly for ratification. It was later withdrawn to incorporate the extension of the Pre-Transitional period by six months. The Bill now incorporates the six months extension of the Pre-Transitional period as agreed by the Parties to the R-ARCSS in their…

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Athletes market Kenya better than ambassadors, says Muite

The Brief

Senior Counsel and former presidential candidate Paul Muite has said Kenyan athletes are better at marketing Kenya than ambassadors in diplomatic missions. “People in Barbados hold Kenya in high esteem, very elating, because of our athletes, it’s all they know about Kenya. “They take everything at the Olympics,” they keep saying. Our athletes better Ambassadors marketing Kenya than the ones we pay in Embassies. Appreciation?” Muite tweeted on Tuesday. “Sports diplomacy. In the future, this needs to be considered as a pillar of Kenya’s foreign policy. @ForeignOfficeKE should be a…

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Botswana backs Kenya’s bid for UN Security Council non-permanent post

The Brief

Botswana on Tuesday committed to supporting Kenya’s bid for the non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the period 2021 to 2022. “Kenya asked that we support its candidature for the opportunity to be voted into the security council of the United Nations on a non-permanent basis, and we assure that Botswana will vote for Kenya even before Kenya votes for itself,” Visiting Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi said at State House Nairobi. “We in Botswana remain committed to our Pan-Africanist outlook. And so, it should be perceived as automatic…

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European Parliament demands unconditional release of detained Ukrainians, condemns Russia’s violation of international law

The Brief

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling on Russia to release “without further delay and unconditionally all illegally and arbitrarily detained Ukrainian citizens, both in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine”. Further, Members of European Parliament require Russian authorities to provide for their safe return, including Crimean Tatars, the recently detained Red Square peaceful demonstrators of July 10, Ukrainian citizens detained on politically motivated charges and the 24 crew members of the Ukrainian naval vessels who were seized near the Kerch Strait by Russian military forces…

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13 Kenyans benefit from Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme

The Brief

Thirteen Kenyans have benefited from the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme, the country’s envoy to Kenya has said. Speaking during the second MTCP alumnus gathering, High Commissioner Loh Seck Tiong said the annual event would further provide the impetus for closer interactions between the High Commission and members of the alumni in Kenya. About 60 alumni, including Kenyan nationals who graduated from universities in Malaysia, as well as the staff of the High Commission, attended the event. MTCP that offers various short term courses such as agriculture, economy, public management and…

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Former TV anchor Esther Arunga freed on parole over son’s murder

The Brief

The Brisbane Supreme Court, on Thursday, sentenced Esther Arunga to 10 months in jail but immediately fred on parole over the murder of her son, Sinclair Timberlake. Arunga was charged as an accessory to murder for misleading the police after her three-year-old son  died as a result of blunt force trauma to his abdomen. She admitted that she lied in order to protect her husband, Quincy Timberlake. Justice Martin Burns sentenced the former TV anchor to 10 months in jail but also released her immediately, on parole. Parole in Western…

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Turkish diplomat shot dead in Iraqi city

The Brief

A Turkish diplomat has been shot dead at a restaurant in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil. International media report that a gunman opened fire at a restaurant where Turkish diplomats were dinning, killing one and another civilian before fleeing in a car driven by an accomplice. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Reuters quoted two Kurdish security officials and a witness. Turkey’s foreign ministry said one of those killed was a deputy consul working at its consulate to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Erbil. A statement from the…

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