President William Ruto, on Saturday, April 29, lamented that African presidents were being mistreated while on foreign tours.
Speaking during the Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend at the Kenya International Convention Centre, President William Ruto complained that they were loaded in buses like school children, while attending Queen Elizabeth's funeral ceremony in London, UK.
“We have these meetings, Africa-US, Africa-Europe, Africa-Turkey, now we are waiting for Africa-Russia and Africa-Japan. We have made the decision that it is not intelligent for 54 of us to go and sit before one gentleman from another place.
“Sometimes we are mistreated. We are loaded into buses like school kids, and it’s not right,” he stated in a conversation with the British-Sudanese billionaire, Mo Ibrahim, at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
On September 19, 2022, President William Ruto joined African presidents in mourning Queen Elizabeth, who passed away aged 96.
At the function, African leaders were driven in a bus, unlike Western heads of state, who were driven in private cars.
US President Joe Biden was driven in his private car, nicknamed the ‘the beast’. French President Emmanuel Macron also arrived with his entourage.
Ruto called for African presidents to stop attending events in Western countries en masse, adding that they could, instead, send representatives.
Those touted to represent the continent were officials drawn from the African Union (AU) and its bureau.
“The decision we have made as AU is that going forward, if there is going to be a discussion between Africa and any other country, we would send the chair and the bureau,
“That is the position I am taking as the President of Kenya,” he added.
It was the first time Ruto publicly expressed displeasure at how he was treated abroad.
The Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend brought together African leaders from various countries and organisations, including AU chairman Moussa Faki and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Jane Mohammed.
