Thursday, 24 October 2013 00:41
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The Kenyan Government on Tuesday denied reports that it was lobbying African countries to boycott the 23rd Commonwealth Head of State Summit to be held in Colombo, international media said.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said Kenya has already embarked on preparations for the summit and no doubt will be represented at high levels of Government.
“The Ministry, therefore, wishes to confirm that Kenya takes its membership to the Commonwealth very seriously and would not do anything that would jeopardise that relationship,” the statement said.
Kenyan newspaper Star reported Monday that the East African nation was quietly lobbying the continent over the Commonwealth’s failure to take a decisive stance against the prosecution of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The report said Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia have already been roped into the plan and may miss out in the meeting.
The Commonwealth is composed of 53 member states, mostly former colonies of Britain. Member states have no legal obligations to one another.
“The alleged move would be outright contrary to our aspiration as a country and contradicts our engagement in multilateral relations, and in particular the Commonwealth,” said the statement.
