President William Ruto on Thursday solidified Kenyan ties with 11 ambassadors in the same week the country witnessed a diplomatic gaffe from Senate Speaker Amason Kingi.
The Head of State met the ambassadors at State House where he received their credentials.
In an address at the event, Ruto reiterated the importance of strong bilateral trade between countries in terms of trade and investment prospects.
“Our progress is not an internal equation, we require friends, partners and investors to accelerate the achievement of our development goals. Bilateral relations facilitate cooperation and partnership with other nations that lead to opportunities for economic and social development.
“Strong bilateral relations allow us to find new markets, increase trade, and forge new bonds between Kenya and other countries," Ruto conveyed.
The interaction comes a day after the Senate Speaker was forced to retract a statement in which he incorrectly referred to a representative from Somaliland as the ambassador to Kenya.
King'i's statement meant that he had recognised Somaliland as an independent State, a gaffe that forced Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Korir Sing'oei to clear the air over Kenya's stand on the independence of the country.
In his statement, the PS maintained that Somaliland was a region in Somalia with a liaison office in Nairobi, which he maintained was not an Embassy.
"It is Kenya's established and unchanging foreign policy, consistent with the African Union, that only the Federal Republic of Somalia is the recognised State entity.
"Somaliland, a region within the Federal Republic of Somalia, has a liaison office for commercial purposes in Nairobi. This office is not an Embassy," he stated.
To reinforce Kenya's ties with Somalia, Ruto accepted credentials from its ambassador Jibril Ibrahim Abdulle.
Others who presented their papers are Ibra Hussain Khan (Pakistan), Mohammed bin Mutair Ammash Al-Shamlani Al-Enazi (Qatar), Bernard Yohana Kibesse (Tanzania), Nasra Salim Mohamed Al Hashmi (Oman), Ali Gholampour (Iran) and Jenny Da Rin (Australia).
Non-resident ambassadors Barlybay Sadykov (Kazakhstan), Daniel Schear (Estonia), Ignacio de Cossio Perez de Mendoza (El Salvador), and Fidelia Graand-Galon (Suriname) were also present.
State House affirmed that the diplomats affirmed their commitment to building strong ties with Kenya for the mutual benefit of respective nations.
