Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has faulted President William Ruto for appointing his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta as a regional peace envoy. Mr Abdullahi expressed his reservation about the appointment after the former president skipped Ethiopia’s peace talks in South Africa.
During his inauguration on August 30, 2022, President Ruto announced that the former president will continue to lead peace initiatives across the region on behalf of Kenya.
“It was a huge mistake for President William Ruto to appoint President Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya’s regional peace envoy,” Abdullahi tweeted. Ruto took over power from Kenyatta, whom he had served for 10 years as Deputy President but they fell out a year into their second term when the former head of state shook hands with then Opposition chief Raila Odinga and declared support for him to take over once at the end of his term. Ruto however, defeated him.
According to Mr Abdullahi, the former head of state has “zero political capital in the region”. He added that during his tenure “Kenya was a meddler in the internal affairs of others”. In his apology for not attending the meeting, former President Kenyatta stated that he had prior engagements.
“Regrettably, I wish to notify your good office that I will not be able to attend the AU-Convened Peace talks scheduled for October 8, 2022, in South Africa owing to conflicts in my schedule,” he said. The Federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have been fighting for over a year in a conflict that has left an unknown number of people dead.
