20 Presidents To Attend Ruto's Swearing In

UPDATE 4.21 pm: Interior Principal Secretary (PS) Karanja Kibicho has said that 20 presidents will attend the swearing-in ceremony of president-elect William Ruto at Kasarani on Tuesday, September 13.

"We will have limited invitations of 2,500 VIPs on the dais. We have confirmations from presidents and heads of states across Africa totalling 20 in number.

"We will have all the protocols associated with visiting heads of state ready by foreign affairs and KDF and all those people who are concerned with the arrival of dignitaries," Kibicho stated. 

The government will also work with traffic officials in preparing an operational order to avoid traffic snarlups. 

Members of the public are expected to be seated in the stadium by 7.00 am while VIPs are expected in the venue by 9.00 am. The program will start at 10.30 am.

Neighbouring Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is among 10 Heads of States that have confirmed attendance at President-elect, William Ruto's swearing-in ceremony at Kasarani Stadium on Tuesday, September 13.

President Museveni has been in good books with Ruto since the first term of the Jubilee administration. The relationship between the two, which had started raising eyebrows, forced Museveni late in August to announce that his government would not take sides in the just concluded elections.

Officials from Ruto's office privy to the arrangements of the ceremony revealed that Museveni and other African leaders had received invites earlier in the week. Ruto had invited over 40 presidents to the ceremony.

Other high-ranking officials set to be in attendance include Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir and Somali’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

These are presidents who were among the first to congratulate Ruto after Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, declared him president-elect on Monday, August 15 at the Bomas of Kenya.

“We began sending the invites early in the week and by Thursday evening 10 presidents among several vice presidents had confirmed they will grace the ceremony,” one of the officials stated.

The official added that they received acknowledgement notes from some other presidents who have promised to send their representatives to the highly-anticipated ceremony.

The 77th high-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which is set to open on the same day-Tuesday, September 13, in New York, he stated, is likely to affect the travels of other world leaders to Kenya, who had expressed interest that they would grace the event.

"We have received apologies from other top foreign officials informing us they will be attending the meet which coincides with the ceremony," he stated.

Dignitaries from the African Union (AU), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), European Union, United Kingdom, US, China, India and Russia have been invited.

Foreign Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Ababu Namwamba, who led Ruto’s international relations docket at the presidential campaign secretariat, has been tasked with coordinating the process in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 2013 during the swearing-in of outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta, 12 heads of state attended the ceremony while nine graced the 2017 event.

With Dr Ruto’s team having been assimilated into the transition committee, the team, comprising of former Machakos Governor and Maendeleo Chap Chap leader Alfred Mutua, Justin Muturi, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary General Veronica Maina and Uasin Gishu Woman Representative-elect Gladys Shollei, among others, has taken charge of the swearing-in ceremony.

“I was personally at Kasarani today (Wednesday, September 7) to supervise the preparations and inform them on the changes which need to be made. We do not want to see any congestion or people injured because of improper planning. We want the flow of people and dignitaries to be smooth. I was also there to catch any mistake early enough,” said Dr Mutua in a previous interview with the Nation.

“We want when people come in, they know where they are going to sit and how to access transport to get in and out. Secondly, we expect a good show on Tuesday from all over the world.”

Mutua said the President-elect was still having consultations with the military before coming up with his standard colours to be unveiled on the ceremony day.

Meanwhile, preparations have been in top gear ahead of the ceremony with various teams involved in the process working with one eye on the clock to ensure everything is in order.

While the military conducted its final rehearsals ahead of the final simulation exercise on Monday, transition committee members continued with their meetings as others inspected the venue. A team from the office of the president-elect and Judiciary was at Kasarani which will be the venue for the ceremony.