Twenty Heads of State and government witnessed the inauguration of President William Ruto at Kasarani, Nairobi, Tuesday, September 13.
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni congratulated Ruto and urged Kenyans to have faith in the new leader.
Museveni said he had met the fifth president on several occasions and knows him as a practical leader who will serve the nation with dedication.
He said that although he was yet to read the manifestos of Azimio and Kenya Kwanza alliances, he was optimistic about Ruto's plans for the country.
"I have not read Kenya Kwanza's manifesto or that of Azimio but I Know Ruto...I have met him a number of times in Uganda and I know he likes ideas and frank talking," he said.
He said he had been following the campaigns on KTN News Kivumbi show. "Normally I do not watch television stations in neighbouring countries but whenever there are elections as was in Kenya, I started watching... I was scanning through and watched KTN News Kivumbi," he said.
Kivumbi is a talk show that covers elections, dissecting political promises, statements and educating Kenyans on their democratic rights.
Dubbed Kivumbi 2022, the show hosted the first presidential town hall meeting that featured President Ruto who was put to task over how he would implement the bottom-up agenda in an already struggling economy. Museveni also challenged the new president to prioritise integration of the East African market protocol to accelerate growth across member states.
Regional markets
"What I found a problem was they were not talking about East Africa integration, only Kenya. In order for East African countries to catch up with the US, they should look at the regional market," he said.
"Africans should know that prosperity comes from wealth creation and wealth is not the same as natural resources. Wealth means commercial agriculture and manufacturing, ICT and so on," he added.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan congratulated Kenyans for political maturity and tolerance that was witnessed before and during the polls and the Supreme Court ruling on the presidential election petition.
She congratulated former President Uhuru Kenyatta for "the smooth transition and successfully completing your tenure." "I want to acknowledge Kenyans for the democracy witnessed during and after the General Election. As East African Community, we join you in celebrating the inauguration of your new leader," she said.
"If there is a gift that this country gave to the East African Community this year, it is maintaining peace throughout this election. We thank you for that special gift," she added.
President Suluhu said it was now time to move beyond the campaigns and the Supreme Court judgement and get to work.
At the same time, Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye said all eyes were on Kenya and now East Africa will be looking forward to the leadership of Ruto.
Ndayishimiye who is also the chairman of the EAC said they will seek guidance from Kenya on how to promote peace within East Africa and particularly in the east of DRC.
Also in attendance were Heads of State from Somalia, Seychelles, Malawi, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, DRC, Congo Brazaville, Sierra Leon, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Mozambique, Sahrawi Djibouti and Ethiopia.
Delegations from South Africa, US, Iran, Nigeria, Egypt, Gambia, and India attended the event. Others were the Secretary Generals of EAC, IGAD and AU officials.
