Uhuru to Meet Raila Ally in South Africa

President Uhuru Kenyatta landed in South Africa for a three-day official visit.

On Thursday afternoon, he held bilateral talks with President Jacob Zuma on how cooperation between Kenya and South Africa can be improved, particularly on matters trade, security and infrastructure development.

On Friday, however, he is scheduled to meet African National Congress (ANC) President and South Africa's Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was just last month elected to succeed Zuma as the ANC leader, effectively positioning him to take over as the nation's President in 2019 after the next election.

Mr Ramaphosa, a former trade unionist and a wealthy businessman, is a personal friend of National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga.

[caption caption="Cyril Ramaphosa"][/caption]

After he took over the ANC leadership in December, Odinga hailed 'Comrade' Ramaphosa for his win, stating that he would restore the respect enjoyed by South Africa which had taken a hit following numerous corruption scandals involving President Zuma.

“In a discussion a year ago about running for the leadership of our respective political parties in Kenya and South Africa, we both emphasised the imperative of a renewed African democratisation in order to build the continent economically, engender equitable growth and contribute to the global movement for moral and ethical leadership,” Odinga stated at the time.

Odinga's relationship with Ramaphosa came to the fore during the 2007/08 Post Election Violence (PEV) when the South African was proposed to mediate the crisis only for the Party of National Unity (PNU) side to vehemently reject him.

They claimed that he had personal and business ties to Odinga and could, therefore, not be trusted to be impartial.

President Kenyatta will on Saturday attend celebrations of ANC's 106th Anniversary to be led by Ramaphosa.

[caption caption="President Kenyatta with DP Ruto and CS Matiang'i before he left for South Africa"][/caption]

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