DP William Ruto arrived in Chad on Sunday evening to lobby support for Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed to be
AU commission chairperson.
Ruto was received by Chadian PM Albert Padacke upon arrival at N'djamena Hassan Djamous International Airport.
President Idriss Deby Itno, who is the current AU chair, will hold talks with Ruto on Monday at the Presidential Palace in N'djamena.
Chad has nominated Moussa Mahama, their long-serving Minister for Foreign Affairs, for the position ahead of the AUC elections scheduled for January 2017.
Kenya will seek to strike a compromise with Chad.
“He travelled to West Africa to solidify votes for Amina after 19 Comesa countries endorsed her,” said David
Mugonyi, communications secretary at the Deputy President's Office.
Kenya is doing everything to push for CS Amina's election for the position.
“We have no doubt that if elected to the post, Amina will serve both her country and the continent
as she has always done, with the highest level of excellence, ethics, integrity, passion and commitment," Mugonyi told the Star on phone.
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Kenya and Chad enjoy warm and cordial relations, although trade between the two countries is minimal.
Kenya’s exports to Chad are valued at Sh81,812,459 against imports from Cthe country which were valued at Sh115,399 in 2015.
The main exports from Kenya to Chad include furniture, jute, textile fibres, medical, surgical, and veterinary instruments and appliances.
After Chad, the DP will head to
Mali, Eritrea, DRC, Ivory Coast, Ghana and eventually Egypt.
He will also meet Mali President Ibrahim Keïta, Eritrea's Isaias Afwerki, Joseph Kabila (DRC), Alassane Ouattara (Ivory Coast), John
Mahama (Ghana)
and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Egypt').