President Uhuru Kenyatta is currently out on a foreign trip. The President left the country for the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Japan (TICAD) on Monday.
The conference began on Wednesday. This year’s runs until August 30 under the theme: “Advancing Africa’s Development through People, Technology and Innovation.”
The President left the country just days after a group of MPs and their aides returned from a one-week trip to the United States in a move that elicited serious public outcry over what was termed wastage of public resources.
The outcry could be justified. It should be noted, however, that criticisms of the expenditures of Parliamentarians and elected officials on trips abroad fail to distinguish between State visits that benefit our foreign interests, and those that use important budgetary funds for the personal enjoyment of people in power.
It is completely unacceptable that some of our representatives use State money to fund their lavish trips abroad, taking all expenses paid trips on the account of ordinary taxpayers under the guise of foreign diplomacy.
Folders have now been opened to investigate the misappropriation of funds. Under the spirit of the anti-corruption campaign, MPs who have taken advantage of their position will surely be brought to justice.
There are, however, certain times that call for official overseas trips in order to push the national agenda. Diplomacy is a delicate art that involves cultural sensitivity, earnest charm, and savvy political understanding.
In the past one month alone, the President has met with prime ministers, other presidents and foreign dignitaries from 18 countries. This combines his overseas trips as well as official visits of state representatives to Kenya.
These trips are crucial to maintain and increase our regional leadership. Uhuru has the foresight to insist that Kenya is highly visible in the national arena, and he is adept at using state visits as a means to promote our agenda around the world. Without meeting with global leaders, it is impossible that Kenya would have reached the status that we now enjoy as a dominant player in African politics and leader of the East African community of nations.
The main mission of Uhuru’s State visits is to improve our security and economic situation, and to gain more prominence at the UN.
Nairobi is already home to the largest UN office in Africa. Annually, it channels over Sh36 billion into the local economy, through construction projects, job creation and real estate. Foreign UN employees typically live in Runda, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Spring Valley, Nyari and Riverside, which accounts for approximately Sh1 billion in rental fees. Regional leadership matters.
Contracted employees from all over the world flock here to work at the world’s largest intergovernmental organisation, and local hires are provided with diverse jobs year round. If Uhuru successfully entices more UN agencies to set up offices in Gigiri, the local economy will benefit manifold.
The other UN-related issue at hand is our potential election to the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 2021 year. The UNSC is the most influential body at the UN, with five permanent member countries and another ten rotating positions up for grabs. Kenya was initially competing with Djibouti for a position but Kenya managed to garner much more widespread support for the candidacy and has since secured the node of the African Union (AU). Based on Uhuru’s lobbying at recent meetings with leaders of Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania, and years of charming the continent, we got the majority support.
Gaining a seat at the Security Council is particularly pertinent right now due to the threat of radical militancy in Somalia, right at our borders. The Al Qaeda linked group Al Shabab is perniciously chopping away at the stability of central governance in Somalia, while our maritime dispute in the Indian Ocean threatens our access to oil and gas reserves.
Though a non-permanent seat on the UNSC does not give Kenya veto powers, it still puts us in a stronger position to lobby for positive outcomes on our safety and security concerns. That is why Uhuru’s work to secure the support of voting parties is imperative.
On the economic front, personally fostering trade, commercial, investment and tourism partnerships is key to realising our development agenda. Such ties were recently given new life during Uhuru’s Caribbean tour in Jamaica and Barbados.
One must spend money in order to make it. Let’s keep this adage in mind as Uhuru’s uses State trips to invest in unbreakable bonds with allies – both new and old – across the globe.
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