Ruto Explains Why He Attended Summit Despite Past Criticism

Tiny Countries Summoning African Presidents – Ruto Forced to Explain Why He’s in Korea

President William Ruto has defended his decision to attend the Korea-Africa Summit in Seol, South Korea despite his past criticism on African leaders being summoned to foreign summits.

President Ruto had earlier addressed the issue of African leaders being summoned to foreign summits during an interview in April 2023 where he termed the practice disrespectful.

“It is not intelligent for 54 African presidents to go and sit before one president from another country for a summit. Sometimes, we are mistreated. We are loaded onto buses like school kids. It is not right,” Ruto said.

In an interview with BBC aired on Thursday, Ruto defended himself stating that there exists a mechanism within the AU when it comes to attending such foreign meetings.

“When I made that statement, I was clear on the mechanism to be employed when it comes to attending it,” he said.

“I can confirm to you that 54 heads of state are not here, we are less than 20,” he added.

President William Ruto at the Korea-Africa Summit. Photo\Courtesy

Ruto on Korea-Africa Summit

President William Ruto attended the Korea-Africa Summit in Seoul, South Korea, despite his previous stance that such events should be represented by the African Union.

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“We have concrete outcomes of where we want to go and the world is listening to us,” Ruto said.

“We are very clear as to the agenda of what we want to discuss; this was not an opportunity for photos, this was a serious engagement,” he added.

During the summit, discussions focused on concrete outcomes, including $10 billion in grants for African countries through bilateral frameworks between Korea and Africa, as well as $14 billion for infrastructure development on the continent.

Achievements from Korea-Africa Summit

Kenya also officially joined the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) as a Member State, marking a significant step towards the country’s goal of achieving self-reliance in vaccine production.

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In a statement, President Ruto said the IVI had committed to establish a Country and Project Office in Nairobi, which will be the regional headquarters.

The government of Kenya also secured a $238 million (Ksh31.6 billion) loan from South Korea based bank.

Kenya’s Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Abraham Korir Sing’Oei signed the agreements with the Korea Exim Bank Executive Director Hwang Kiyeon on behalf of President William Ruto.

At least 48 African leaders, including Rwanda president Paul Kagame and Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu from East Africa countries were in attendance of the Summit.

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