Benjamin Netanyahu to attend Uhuru Kenyatta's swearing-in

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be among the 20 heads of state who will be attending President Uhuru Kenyatta’s swearing-in on Tuesday.

According to The Times Of Israel, Mr Netanyahu will fly to Nairobi next week to attend the inauguration.

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Mr Netanyahu will be in Kenya for several hours, flying in on Tuesday morning and leaving the country later the same day, after attending the ceremony at Kasarani.

Government Spokesman Eric Kiraithe on Thursday failed to provide the list of the heads of state who had confirmed their attendance, promising to give a full briefing on Friday.

In July 2016, Mr Netanyahu became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Kenya.

During the visit, Mr Kenyatta pledged to help Israel gain observer status at the African Union.

“We believe that there is need for us as a continent to once again to re-engage Israel on a more positive basis, with an understanding that our partnership can help make this world that much more secure,” Mr Kenyatta said at a joint press conference with Mr Netanyahu at Nairobi State House.

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Israel and Kenya are “natural partners,” Mr Netanyahu said.

“We face common challenges, the first among them is as I’ve just said, terror… Now, alongside these common challenges, Israel and Kenya share common opportunities in technology, water, agriculture, cyber and much more.”

In the lead-up to the swearing-in, the government on Thursday declared Tuesday, November 28, a holiday.

But the ceremony has been surrounded by controversy after articles in a section of UK media suggested that some western governments were holding off sending congratulations until Mr Kenyatta’s inauguration.

There were also claims that Kenyan ambassadors were allegedly soliciting for congratulatory messages on behalf of the president.

But the government has since denied and dismissed the claims.

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Mr Kiraithe on Thursday laughed off the claims, saying President Kenyatta was duly elected and the government is not “suffering from an inferiority complex” to warrant solicitation of messages.

“There is no reason whatsoever for the government to solicit congratulatory messages. Even if nobody congratulates us it is immaterial,” Mr Kiraithe told journalists in Nairobi.

The election’s first round, on August 8, was overturned by the Supreme Court after opposition leaders complained the results were manipulated.

The National Super Alliance (Nasa) has dismissed Mr Kenyatta’s win and vowed not to recognise him as president.

There are reports that Nasa is planning parallel swearing-in of its leader Raila Odinga, who boycotted the repeat poll and maintains he won the August 8 election.