Kenya and Zimbabwe have enjoyed a cordial relationship with the two countries creating a conducive environment to strengthen ties and promote relations in the recent past.
This is evident with the present state visit by Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who jetted into the country on Tuesday, March 8.
However, there was a time when an incident involving a professor cum Zimbabwe politician with Kenyan links threatened the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Jonathan Moyo served in the Robert Mugabe government as one of his trusted allies and was instrumental in his more than three decades tenure.
Moyo's ties with Kenya date back to the 1990s when he worked at a Kenyan organization before officially venturing into politics. At the time, he worked as a programme officer at Ford Foundation - an organisation that funded political activist Mutahi Ngunyi's Non-Governmental Organisation dubbed Series on Alternative Research in East Africa (SAREAT).
Ngunyi and Moyo were later charged in court over Ksh600 million graft case at the Foundation, but the case was later dropped and he went back to Zimbabwe.
In his home country, Moyo became a force in the Mugabe government serving as Minister for Information and Publicity from 2000 to 2005 and retained the position from 2013 to 2015. He was described by many as the engine that kept the Mugabe rule running, mainly due to his prowess in developing pro-government communication.
He was later appointed as the Minister for Higher Education for a period of two years which ended in 2017 during the coup d'état that led to the fall of one of Africa's longest-serving Presidents.
Coup D'etat
At the time, Mugabe had sacked his Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, seemingly to clear the path for his wife, Grace Mugabe, to succeed him. The operation dubbed G40 was led by a team of younger leaders with Moyo as the brains behind the faction.
Mnangagwa, on the other hand, sought to replace Mugabe, gathering the support of the army generals in the country. In November 2017, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces seized power by taking over the country's state-controlled broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation as well as key areas of the city.
The current Zimbabwean Head of State was ultimately announced as the new President after the ruling party, ZANU-PF, removed Mugabe as the party leader and issued him with an ultimatum to resign.
Exile
During the 2017 coup, Moyo was among Mugabe allies targeted by the army although together with his Kenyan wife, escaped narrowly just before an alleged killer squad hit his house. They are believed to have moved to Nairobi.
The Zimbabwe government has on a number of occasions requested Kenya to produce Moyo upon allegations that the politician was organising an uprising against Mnangagwa's government.
The two countries noted that although Kenya and Zimbabwe do not have a formal extradition treaty, facilitations had been put in place in order to facilitate Moyo's forced return to Harare.
"We take note and welcome the prosecutor general's efforts for the extradition of Professor Jonathan Moyo from Kenya as he is the figment of the external demonisation of our leadership and extorting mass uprising in the country," Zanu PF Secretary for Administration, Obert Mpofu, stated.
To date, Moyo still remains a fierce critic of the Zimbabwe government, with his story likened to that of lawyer Miguna Miguna who pokes holes on the day-to-day operations of the Kenyan government from Canada where he was exiled in 2018.
Last week, a popular Zimbabwean pastor, Walter Magaya, was arrested in Harare after jetting back from a crusade in Kenya. He was reportedly questioned on allegations that he had met Moyo in Nairobi to plot a coup in the South African country.
The exiled politician denied the allegations, but noted that a security team was allegedly hunting him down.
"I have heard there is an inter-security taskforce which is monitoring me, but I didn't know Magaya was in Kenya; just read it in the media. The truth is that the last time I saw and spoke to Magaya was in 2015," he stated.
Zimbabwean media has claimed that Mnangagwa may seek President Uhuru Kenyatta's help to have his rival extradited although diplomatic officials from the two countries have not indicated that as among the topics the two Heads of State will discuss.
