President Muhammadu Buhari has departed in Abuja on a three-day state visit to Kenya on Wednesday
President Muhammadu Buhari departs on a 3-day official visit to Kenya
On arrival in Kenya, President Buhari will join his host, President Uhuru Kenyatta and other dignitaries at a memorial service for Kenyan soldiers who were killed by Al-Shabaab in Somalia on January 15.
After the memorial service in Eldoret, President Buhari will proceed to Nairobi for bilateral talks on Thursday with Kenyan Government officials led by President Kenyatta.
Before the conclusion of his visit, President Buhari and President Kenyatta will jointly preside over a Kenya-Nigeria Business Forum in Nairobi.
The President’s entourage to Kenya will include the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Industry, Trade and Investment.
At the conclusion of his visit to Kenya on Friday, President Buhari will go on to Addis Ababa for the 26th Summit of African Union Heads of State and Government.
President Buhari will also participate in a meeting of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council before returning to Abuja on Sunday, January 31st.
The International Criminal Court has withdrawn charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Fatou Bensouda, ICC prosecutor, filed a three-paragraph notice withdrawing the charges against Kenyatta but added that she reserved the right to file charges again should she get more evidence.
“The evidence has not improved to such an extent that Mr Kenyatta’s alleged criminal responsibility can be proven beyond reasonable doubt,” Bensouda said on Friday in a document filed at the Hague-based court.
Fergal Gaynor, the lawyer representing the victims, told Al Jazeera the Kenyan government had done their utmost to obstruct the case.
“Frankly the victims have been trying to get justice in Kenya, and failed. They tried to get justice from the ICC, and they failed. It is a sad day for them,” he said.
Prosecutors have repeatedly complained that Kenya has blocked their case by not cooperating in their investigation. Judges at the court this week also said Kenya’s cooperation “falls short of the standard of good faith cooperation”.
In a written statement, Bensouda said the lack of cooperation had a
“severe impact” on the case.
“It has deprived the victims of their right to know the full account of what transpired in 2007-2008,” she said.
“It has further undermined my ability to carry out a full investigation. And finally, it has prevented the Judges from carrying out their critical functions of assessing the evidence and determining the truth.”
Kenyatta faced crimes-against-humanity charges for allegations that he helped instigate violence that followed Kenya’s December 2007 presidential election, when more than 1,000 people were killed.
The decision comes after his lawyer on Wednesday called for the judges to drop the charges and acquit his client while Kenyatta himself said prosecutors had “nothing” on him.
Despite the increased in the killing of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has assured Nigerians that the problem of insecurity in the country would soon come to an end.
He gave this assurance in a short interview with State House correspondent immediately after leading 2013 Federal Government Hajj delegation to present their report to the President.
Sultan
He said that after the presentation, the delegation used the opportunity to rub mind with the President regarding the security challenges in the country.
He added that with what President Jonathan disclosed to them, he was convinced that the problem would soon end.
“We took time to rub minds on some few security issues affecting Nigeria. We heard from Mr. President and he also heard from us. Insha Allah, Nigeria will be better for it very soon,” he declared.
He said, “At the end of each Hajj operation of each particular year, the Amir Hajj delegation submits its report to the President highlighting what really transpired, what are the challenges and what we feel Mr. President should do to make Hajj operations in Nigeria better.
“So this morning, we submitted our report to the President and highlighted areas of achievements and also some few areas which we feel the government should still come in.
“We also commended Mr. President for the support he has been giving to Hajj operations in Nigeria and I think you are all aware of the significant leap we have in terms of preparing and conducting Hajj operations in Nigeria. Much better than what it used to be.
“The President assured us of the government’s continued total support for Hajj operations in this country.”
Similarly, President Jonathan had said on Monday that despite the violence being carried out by the sect, his administration will not surrounded to the terrorists.
He commended the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta for not cancelling his three days state visit to Nigeria despite the attack on the country’s capital.
President Jonathan said this after a bilateral discussion with Kenyatta as part of activities of the Kenyan leader’s state visit.
Jonathan stressed that terrorists attack countries they observed have signs of development and growth, adding that terror attack as diversionary.
He said their mission is to bring Nigeria back, but assured that Nigeria would overcome the insurgents.
He revealed that the sect mission is to threaten people and government, adding that they would not succeed in halting business in the country.
He said, “I also want to use this opportunity to express the condolence of Nigeria to government of Kenya on the last terror attack. For us in Nigeria, we have been experiencing these dastardly acts for sometimes now.
“Kenya is beginning to experience it. We have to appreciate the courage expressed by the President for not aborting the state visit and the invitation to the World Economic Forum because of the attack.”
