Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, Korir Sing'oei, on Thursday, June 22, defended President William Ruto's deal with Saudi Arabia after a newspaper cartoon published in the Standard newspaper trolled the two governments.
In a statement, the PS contended that the cartoon published on June 19 - depicting Saudi Arabia targeting to hold Africa, hostage, was inappropriate.
Renowned cartoonist, Gado, converged humour, art and social commentary to depict how the Middle East country was influencing the world socially and politically.
Arab leaders are pictured marking a checklist, with Africa next in line. A diplomat is seen being deployed with bags of money to woo Africa and its leaders into backing Saudi Arabia's ideologies.
While reacting to the cartoon, the PS explained that the government's deals with Saudi Arabia were based on the mutual interest of both countries.
Ruto's administration, he added, engages with other countries with the aim of creating opportunities for Kenyans and growing the economy.
"Under no circumstance does this unfortunate cartoon depict the relationship between Kenya and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"We shall continue to do more to deepen our socio-economic partnership that opens vast opportunities for our citizens," the PS stated.
Some of the deals Ruto sealed with Saudi Arabia include the government-to-government oil importation deal.
In the deal inked in March 2023, Kenya was allowed to import oil from the Middle East on credit and pay using the Kenyan shilling to cut on costs even as the East African currency continued to weaken against the dollar.
“I want to assure those in Kenya who were facing challenges of access to dollars that we have taken steps to ensure dollar availability in the next couple of weeks, things are going to be different because our fuel companies will now be paying for fuel in Kenya shillings," President Ruto promised.
Data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in early June 2023 indicated that Saudi Arabia surpassed China to become Kenya's leading import market.
At the end of March 2023, Kenya had imported goods worth Ksh32.27 billion from Saudi Arabia and Ksh30.34 billion from China.
