Africa

Ruto yet to congratulate Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye

President William Ruto at a past event. (Photo: File/PSC)

By Mwangi Maina | Tuesday, April 2, 2024

No public statement has been issued by the State House or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi regarding the election or the inauguration ceremony.

One week after the election was held in Senegal, Kenyan President William Ruto has not yet congratulated his Senegalese counterpart, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was sworn in Tuesday.

The little-known former opposition leader won in a stunning victory less than two weeks after being released from prison.

Keep reading

No public statement has been issued by the State House or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi regarding the election or the inauguration ceremony.

According to a source at State House, the Kenyan President did not attend the ceremony that featured hundreds of officials and several African heads of state. The source added, however, that the congratulatory message may have been sent without a public announcement.

It's worth noting that Dakar is the sole francophone capital in West Africa, where Nairobi maintains a heavy diplomatic presence with a fully-fledged mission.

The simple action would signal that Nairobi understands the new and evolving political realities in West Africa and is committed to maintaining ties with the country.

France, which has received festering resentment across francophone West Africa's capitals, has already congratulated the new president.

"Congratulations to Bassirou Diomaye Faye on his election as President of the Republic of Senegal. I wish him every success and look forward to working with him," President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X.

Most of the Western capitals do not congratulate a foreign leader-elect until election results are certified.

This stunning victory prompted both the incumbent President Macky Sall and the ruling party's candidate, Amadou Ba, to concede defeat and congratulate Faye even before the result was officially announced.

President William Ruto is pictured with his Senegalese counterpart Macky Sall during the AU Mid-Year Coordination Meeting in Nairobi on July 16, 2023. (Photo: PSC)

Observers say President Ruto wouldn't miss any chance to publicly extend his congratulations.

In February, the Kenyan leader publicly congratulated Ilhan Heydar Oglu Aliyev on his re-election as the fourth President of Azerbaijan.

On March 4, he extended congratulations to Mian Shehbaz, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, following an election that was heavily disputed.

The Eastleigh Voice has established that President Ruto did not congratulate his Comorian counterpart, Azali Assoumani, who was re-elected for another five-year term this January, despite Assoumani's previous role as the AU chairperson.

Last June, the Comorian leader was the chief guest during Kenya's Madaraka Day fete, and Ruto reciprocated this gesture by attending the 48th Comoros anniversary in the capital, Moroni, as the guest of honour.

Ruto also did not congratulate Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was sworn in for his third term on Tuesday but he is expected to visit the country this month.

The new Senegalese leader is perceived as anti-western, while Ruto has maintained a close camaraderie with Western powers since assuming office.

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga has also refrained from congratulating Diomaye.

After former Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohamed lost the bid for African Union Commission chair in 2017 to the less-glamorous Chadian Moussa Faki, Kenya pledged to open seven additional embassies in francophone West Africa.

Thus far, only one embassy has been inaugurated - in Senegal in 2019.

The region's lack of support for Amina's bid highlighted the need for increased diplomatic engagement.