Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is expected in Nairobi this week on his first State visit since President William Ruto took over, The EastAfrican reported citing Nairobi’s diplomatic sources.
Th visit is an indication that the relation between Nairobi and Addis Ababa is a good shape.
PM Abiy has not been to Nairobi after he attended President Ruto’s inauguration in October 2022., while President Ruto’s first foreign trip after that inauguration was to Addis Ababa, where he also launched the Safaricom-Ethiopia telcom.
Abiy’s trip was firmed up last week when senior diplomats from both sides met under the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), Kenya’s oldest bilateral organ with a foreign country, established in 1963 as a forum to discuss issues between the two.
In Addis Ababa, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who doubles up as the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs minister, and Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selasie revisited the ties on Wednesday last week, seeking to cement economic, social, security and foreign relations cooperation, according to a dispatch.
Ethiopia is among the earliest countries to sign mutual security pacts with Kenya, owing to the friendship between Jomo Kenyatta and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
“The 36th JMC further provided an opportunity for Kenya and Ethiopia to enhance their cooperation in regional and global issues of mutual interest,” it said.
Source: The East African