After tricky year, Kenya to formalise China policy

Kenya plans to put in writing its policy towards China, supposedly taking lessons from a chaotic first year of President William Ruto’s term in dealing with Beijing.

This is the takeaway from last week’s trip to China by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.

Mr Mudavadi toured Beijing between Tuesday and Thursday last week, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

It was his first trip to China since he took over the Foreign Affairs docket in October from Dr Alfred Mutua. And by that time, it was clear that Nairobi needed to do something about China, as country officials had publicly criticised China for either lamping debt on Kenya or accused Chinese nationals of saturating the local retail spaces.

After the trip, however, Mr Mudavadi says Kenya is thinking 60 years from now and wants to cement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership it has enjoyed with China in recent years.

The first step is to set up focal points in government, some type of agency that will directly deal with Chinese affairs.

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A joint dispatch by the two sides said they agreed to the “Institutionalisation of the Joint Vision (of Kenya-China Strategic Partnership in the next 60 years) into their respective foreign policies and establishment of joint technical teams to work on details of the pillars of Vision and its implementation framework.”

No timelines were given but the pronouncement alone may mean a change of course to rectify mistakes of the past year. Mr Mudavadi says China remains invaluable to the “realisation of Kenya’s national development priorities, especially in roads and rail transport as well as green energy and ICT, according to a joint dispatch.

Nairobi also re-aligned with China’s own political views: Reiterating the One-China policy to assure Beijing there won’t be relations with Taiwan and choosing to support what China labels as universal values for peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom while opposing “interference in internal affairs of other countries under the banner of ‘democracy and human rights.’”

The latest may be a dig at the West which China blames for routinely criticising Beijing’s policy towards minorities in China. Ahead of Mr Mudavadi’s trip to China, Beijing had lobbied successfully to have a good rating at the latest session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in January.

The two ministers agreed that the world is now multipolar and that there has to be reforms in the international financial infrastructure such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, just as much as the UN Security Council and decisions for peace and security challenges across the globe.

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Some observers say Mr Mudavadi’s trip could help turn around relations because it opens channels of communication and learning about China.

“China is an important partner and Nairobi should reflect the seriousness the relationship holds through policy and rhetoric,” said Cavince Adhere, a China-Africa analyst in Nairobi.

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