- This meant that the former President was going to continue with his duties of chairing regional peace sittings, on behalf of the government.
- Uhuru's first appearance at the peace meetings after the appointment, was on October 27, in South Africa for Ethiopia peace talks.
Image: ENOS TECHE
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has spent his first 100 days since retirement engaging in diplomatic matters.
Uhuru was appointed as the peace envoy for the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa, by President William Ruto.
This meant that the former President was going to continue with his duties of chairing regional peace sittings, on behalf of the government.
“I have committed that the government of Kenya will support those initiatives that will be chaired by President Kenyatta and I want to thank you Excellency for graciously agreeing to support us and help me in those interventions,” Ruto said then.
Uhuru's first appearance at the peace meetings after the appointment, was on October 27, in South Africa for Ethiopia peace talks.
The talks to end the two-year conflict between the Ethiopian Federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), are been sponsored by the African Union.
The third retired president was named the African Union Commission High-Level Panel Member.
So far, the AU Commission has held two Senior Commanders’ Meetings, with the third meeting currently happening.
The First Senior Commanders’ Meeting took place on November 7, following the signing of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the Ethiopian government and TPLF.
The Second Senior Commanders meeting that ended on Thursday was facilitated by the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo together with AU High-Level Panel Members in Nairobi.
On Thursday, December 29, the delegates arrived at the Tigray capital, Mekelle, to evaluate the peace deal made.
Uhuru said the AU had made great progress towards the right path to bring peace to a region that has faced bloodshed since November 2020.
“We are indeed making tremendous progress. It is a plus that parties have agreed to a series of activities and actions all aimed at returning the state normalcy in Tigray and Ethiopia,” he said on December 23.
“We have agreed that the true statement they need to make will be the one they will issue when we will be in the region observing and verifying the actions.”
Uhuru has also been leading the negotiation meetings calling for the cessation of conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On November 26, the rebel group M23 asked to meet the EAC peace facilitator and the Angolan President Lourenco, to plead their case, before ceasing fire.
The group said they were ready to hold a dialogue on the condition that the Congolese forces did not attack them.
"We are always ready for a direct dialogue with the Congolese government to resolve the root causes of conflicts," M23 spokesperson Lawrence Kanyuka said.
On December 6, Uhuru closed the third inter-Congolese peace dialogue which was held in Nairobi.
The peace talks started on November 28.
He said the next meetings will be held "far from home" as progress had been made.
"Because we believe we shall have progressed we are going to have two meetings in Goma and Bunia," he said.
"We do not want you to come back to Nairobi, there is no reason why we should not meet at home...we shall meet at the grassroots to check if we can succeed in our peace effort."