Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is set to embark on a three-day official visit to Beijing, China starting Wednesday, January 24.
Mudavadi, who is also Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs, will be leading a delegation of 12, to meet his counterpart Wang Yi and Lan Fo’an, among other engagements. Wang Yi is China’s Foreign Affairs Minister and also a member of the Communist Party of China while Lan Fo’an is the Finance Minister.
This visit was confirmed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a press briefing. “At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of Kenya Musalia Mudavadi will pay an official visit to China from January 24 to 26,” The specific agenda of the visit is yet to be disclosed.
Mudavadi’s visit comes just three months after President William Ruto led a delegation of Kenyan leaders, Mudavadi among them, to Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum, where bilateral talks were held and agreements for various fields were entered into. This was Mudavadi’s first tour to china since assuming office in September 2022.
In a statement, State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said that on Saturday, October 14, 2023, that the president was to be attending the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.
“President William Ruto departs this evening for the People’s Republic of China for a 3-day Official Visit that will underscore the robust bilateral relations between Kenya and China, and highlight Kenya’s active participation in the 3rd Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” said Mohamed.
Musalia Mudavadi was appointed by President Ruto as Foreign Affairs CS on September 2022 in reshuffle move that saw the Prime CS get additional responsibilities. Since then, Mudavadi’s office has become centre for economic diplomacy to streamline diplomatic relations to Kenya’s important allies.
This trip will be Mudavadi’s first official visit to china as Prime CS and Foreign Affairs minister and it carries a greater symbolism to both countries. The dispatch team in Nairobi said Mudavadi’s trip would seem him “actively engage with senior government representatives of the People’s Republic of China, focusing on bolstering collaboration in trade, investment and security.”
