It goes without saying that President William Ruto’s bold advocacy for a new global climate finance architecture ranks top of his foreign policy positives as he marks a year in office on September 13.
The President has been vocal in pushing for an equitable share of climate financing resources that would see Africa pay interest on the loans commensurate to their borrowing.
He first brought up the issue at the New Global Pact Summit in France on June 22 and earned applause from President Emmanuel Macron for his courageous approach to the matter.
Ruto was candid in calling for a fair financing system that would save poor countries like Kenya the pain of paying up to five times higher interest than advanced economies.
“We do not want anything for free, we want another organisation of equals where you have as much say because you pay as much as we do because we also pay,” he said.
He discouraged credit control by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank whose rules he said are unfavourable to Africa because the continent has no say on equitable sharing of resources.
Ruto, who is increasingly charting a path for himself as a self-styled Pan-Africanist, repeated the sentiments at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on September 5 saying he isn’t pushing for a system that favours Africa, but one that is fair to all.
“The push by Africa for the reform of the international financial system and multilateral banks, in particular, is about fairness, not special treatment. We must continue to press for affordable development financing,” he said.
He said the financing gap and debt distress worsened by the climate crisis have sunk Africa deeper into poverty, something he said now needs a paradigm shift.
Leaders at the summit took note of this and listed in the Nairobi Declaration the need to establish a new financing architecture that is responsive to Africa’s needs.
"The Nairobi Declaration firmly renews our commitment to global climate action and sustainable development, infusing it with a distinctive African character," Ruto said at the close of the summit.
Removal of Visa requirement
This foreign policy has not only opened up Kenya as a favourite destination spot for tourists and investors but eased travel for Kenyans to countries like Comoros, Senegal, Congo, Djibouti and South Africa returned the favour and lifted visa requirements for Kenyans.
In his inaugural address at the Africa Climate Summit on September 4, Ruto said he is considering abolishing visa requirements for all foreign nationals “because it is unfair to ask anybody coming home for a visa.”
Ruto has previously said Kenya, particularly Turkana, is the cradle of mankind and therefore home to everyone.
Push for liberalisation of African trade
Another feather on Ruto’s cap is his push for the use of local currency for African trade through the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System.
Ruto has been a vocal proponent of dumping the US dollar in trade between African countries to ease trade on the continent.
In his speeches across different international forums, Ruto said the dollar requirement is hindering free trade between African states and questioned the necessity of the US currency, for instance, in trade between Kenya and Djibouti.
"From Djibouti selling to Kenya or traders from Kenya selling to Djibouti, we have to look for US dollars. How is US dollars part of the trade between Djibouti and Kenya? Why?" he said in his address to the Djibouti Parliament in mid-June.
“Let us pay in US dollars what we are buying from the US. But what we are buying from Djibouti, let’s use local currency.”
It is the same language that BRICS, a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is speaking.
China Square goof
Whereas Ruto has made commendable strides in the execution of his foreign policies, some of his lieutenants have let him down on this front.
In February, Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria was up in arms with China Square, a retail store at Kenyatta University’s UniCity mall leading to the closure of the outlet for a week on February 26.
Kuria claimed the Chinese-owned retailer had set an unhealthy competition for small-scale traders in the country.
He said investors are only allowed to operate in Kenya as manufacturers, not as traders. Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing’oei contradicted the statement stating Kenya's investment regime is non-discriminatory.
Isolation of Kuria by US envoy
Not long thereafter, Kuria was in the news again over a diplomatic row pitting him against US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
Tai arrived in Kenya on July 17 to enhance economic ties between the US and Kenya and had scheduled meetings with CS Kuria at his Two Rivers office.
She, however, refused to meet the Trade CS over his ‘loose tongue’ towards individuals and institutions.
Alfred Mutua diplomatic gaffe
In May, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua was on the spot after he promised jobless Kenyans work opportunities in Canada, positions the Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Department said never existed.
Mutua said in a tweet that Canada has more job vacancies but faces a human resource challenge but they were in “deep negotiations” for Kenya to help fill that gap.
But the Canadian Immigration Department issued a statement cautioning Kenyans against being duped using disinformation saying, “This is false, and the immigration programmes referenced do not exist”.
Mutua would later, while appearing before the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly on May 24 claim that he was misquoted. He cautioned Kenyans against being conned by uncertified agencies “who promise them jobs that don’t exist”.
“We are working on government-to-government job opportunities for Kenyans and the results of the deliberations will be communicated soon,” he told the JLAC.
In April, Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi was caught in a similar gaffe when he claimed that the state had partnered with Zambian farmers to help produce maize for the country. Zambian authorities denied such knowledge.
Sudan rejects Ruto’s mediator role
Sudan is a country at war where rival factions of the military government have been embroiled in a power struggle since April 15.
The regional bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), offered to facilitate mediation talks between the warring factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Igad appointed Ruto on June 12 as head of the quartet mandated to bring the two sides to the negotiating table but junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Buhran rejected his appointment.
Al-Buhran accused Kenya of harbouring RSF sympathisers whose leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo Hemedti he considers a rebel.
Kenya was to lead the mediation talks alongside South Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti and would have seen Ruto arrange a face-to-face meeting, for the first time, between the generals.
While commenting on the war, Trade CS Moses Kuria suggested bombing Khartoum if the warring generals failed to reach a truce.
He said the military invasion was the surest way of dealing with juntas overthrowing governments; “Appeasement does not pay off,” he said in a tweet.
His outbursts prompted Foreign and Diaspora Affairs PS Korir Sing’oei to issue a statement distancing the government from the sentiments he termed as personal views.
Kenya loses maritime seat
Kenya bid for but lost the general secretary post at the International Maritime Organisation, a post for which the country had fronted the Ambassador and Special Envoy for Maritime and Blue Economy, Nancy Karigithu.
Kenya lost the seat despite having secured the endorsement of the AU during the High-Level Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, in mid-July, 2022.
President William Ruto and the African Union endorsed Karigithu on May 6 as the only African candidate for the post.
"In nominating her, we appreciate that no African and no woman has ever held the position of secretary general of IMO in the years of the organisation's existence," Ruto said.
"Her election, therefore, will be an affirmative action and will (give credence) to the current global momentum of inclusivity and diversity in international decision-making processes."
The International Maritime Organization is the UN agency that leads international efforts to promote safer shipping on cleaner oceans.
The SG seat was won by Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco of Panama who took over from the current holder, South Korean Kitak Lim on January 1, 2024, for the period 2024-2027.
Had Kenyan won the seat, she would have been in a better position to enable optimal exploitation of the Blue Economy.