Uhuru to hold talks with UK Premier Cameron

By PPS

London: President Uhuru Kenyatta will Tuesday be among world leaders in attendance at a London conference to discuss the situation in Somalia.

“During the visit, President Uhuru will also hold bilateral meetings with UK Prime Minister David Cameron and other UK Government officials,” BBC quoted an official statement.

The plane carrying Uhuru and his entourage touched down at Heathrow airport on Monday at 6.40am local time.

On arrival, Uhuru was received by senior UK Government officials and the staff of the Kenya High Commission in London led by Ambassador Ephraim Ngare.

The conference, which is co-chaired by the UK and Somalia, will be held at the Lancaster House Tuesday.

Among other issues, the conference will deliberate on strengthening security, policing and justice system as well as public finance management in Somalia as part of the wider strategy of stabilising and ensuring security in Somalia.

Uhuru is accompanied by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta and Attorney General Githu Muigai among other senior Government officials.

UK invited Uhuru to discuss the situation in Somalia, which had been been plagued by civil war since 1991. Kenya plays a vital role on Somalia, having nearly 5,000 troops there, and hosting more Somali refugees than any other nation.

On Friday, Uhuru reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to the search for peace and stability in Somalia in an address during the 21st Extra-Ordinary Summit of IGAD Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The meeting, he said, came at a critical moment in the reconstruction of Somalia and took place ahead of the London conference on Somalia Tuesday.

Other conferences

“The recent positive political and security developments in Somalia have opened a window of opportunity for lasting peace in Somalia. Somalia is on course, now more than ever, of stabilising and realising lasting peace,” Uhuru said.

Other international meetings on Somalia affairs are scheduled in Tokyo at the end of the month, Brussels in September and the proposed conference on Somali refugees to be co-chaired by Kenya and Somalia.

President Uhuru said Al Shabaab remains a major threat to Somalia and regional peace and stability.