Ramaphosa trip fiasco: CS assures South Africa of Kenya's support

Kenya has added its voice to the controversy surrounding the impounding of a South African plane carrying President Cyril Ramaphosa’s security detail on Thursday by Polish authorities.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, in a statement Saturday, said Kenya regrets the situation while adding it fully supports the peace initiative.

Ramaphosa is leading a delegation of six African leaders to Ukraine and Russia to find a solution to the ongoing war between the two countries.

“I have spoken to my colleague, South African Foreign Affairs minister Naledi Pandor, about the incident involving President’s security in Poland. She has informed me it has been sorted,” Mutua said.

“I have assured her of our support and congratulated the nation for the peace initiative.” 

The security personnel were supposed to be deployed to both Kyiv in Ukraine and St Petersburg in Russia ahead of Ramaphosa's arrival to ensure his safety.

Poland's actions forced Ramaphosa to travel to Ukraine without some of his security detail.

Earlier reports indicated that Poland refused to clear the 120 security personnel over alleged racism something that escalated into a diplomatic row.

Polish authorities, however, dismissed this saying they refused the South Africans entry to Poland because of faulty and incomplete permits related to the cargo of arms the aircraft was carrying.

"Accusations against Poland of racism are being circulated in this case. This is nonsense," National Security Department director and spokesman for Poland's Minister-Special Services Coordinator, Stanisław Żaryn.

Warsaw Chopin airport spokesman Piotr Rudzki told the BBC the South African security guards did not also have the necessary permits for their weapons.

The officers were forced to remain stuck aboard a chartered SAA Airbus at Warsaw's Chopin Airport, a situation that threw the police and South African National Defence Force's operational plans into disarray for more than 26 hours while the president was in Ukraine.

This prompted a furious reaction from Ramaphosa's head of security, Maj Gen Wally Rhoode.

"They are delaying us, they are putting the life of our president in jeopardy," he told journalists. "We could have been in Kyiv by now and this is all they are doing. I want you guys to see how racist they are,” he said.

Meanwhile, the delegation met Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday before proceeding to Russia to hold a similar meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy is said to have urged the leaders to ask Putin to free political prisoners from Crimea and beyond, saying it would be an “important step” during their trip to Russia on Saturday.

He also told reporters after the meeting with the delegation of African leaders, “I clearly said several times at our meeting that to allow any negotiations with Russia now that the occupier is on our land is to freeze the war, to freeze pain and suffering.”

He also said that peace talks with Russia would be possible only after Moscow withdraws its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory.

“We need real peace, and therefore, a real withdrawal of Russian troops from our entire independent land.”

The leaders of South Africa, Congo, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Egypt said their mission is a "mission of peace" and will be seeking to secure a commitment from both sides to end the fighting.