Ruto's love for summits resurfaces

President William Ruto with Chinese President Xi Jinping during bilateral talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. [PCS]

As a newbie, President William Ruto was quite the idealist. Believing that Africa was punching below its weight, he urged fellow leaders to present a united front on the global stage.

Dr Ruto had many grievances against the global North, which he argued had long mistreated the global South. The most notable of them all was the summoning of African nations by the larger economies to a summit, such as the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (Focac) that he is currently attending in Beijing.

Freshly elected, Ruto's first international engagement was attending the late Queen Elizabeth's funeral in the UK. He and other Heads of State were stripped of their presidential motorcades and loaded onto buses "like school kids,"  as he had lamented.

"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," he said during the Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend in Nairobi last year. 

"The decision that we have made as AU (African Union) is that going forward if there is going to be a discussion between Africa and any country, we would send the chair and the bureau," Ruto added.

A month later, he repeated the same remarks before the Pan-African Parliament Summit on Climate Policy and Equity in South Africa, earning a standing ovation.

At the time, there was a feeling that the new kid on the block, with fire in his belly, would help realise the continent's dream of enhanced integration. But while some praised Ruto's firm stance, others were rattled by his strong sentiments. Saboti MP Caleb Amisi, who sits in the National Assembly's Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, described Ruto's initial denunciation of summits as "against the principle of international relations and diplomacy".

"He is the country's number one diplomat and his voice on the international stage shapes Kenya's foreign policy," said Amisi.

Listening to Ruto last year, one would have expected a mostly grounded president, who would cede invitations to global summits to subordinates or delegate them to the AU. In recent months, the president has found such conferences irresistible.

Barely months after his initial stance, he would go back on his word. He initially backed it up with action, skipping the Russia-Africa Summit in July 2023. He attended the Italy-Africa Summit in January this year and graced the Korea-Africa Summit later in June. 

Alongside other heads of state, Ruto, tasked to co-chair the Road and Belt Initiative session, is in China for the Focac. Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has tagged along, hoping to champion his candidacy among the African heads at the summit.