NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 19 – President Mwai Kibaki has thanked the Government of Japan for humanitarian assistance to Kenya that helped mitigate the effects of the post election violence.
The Head of State observed that Japan was a dependable development partner, citing her funding for Sondu Miriu hydropower and rehabilitation of the port of Mombasa among other projects.
The President made the remarks during talks with the former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda who paid him a courtesy call at State House Nairobi.
The talks were a follow-up on implementation of the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development Conference (TICAD IV) held in Yokohama, Japan last year. They also centred on the bilateral and economic cooperation between Kenya and Japan.
Mr Fukuda on his part hailed President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga for setting aside political differences to form the Grand Coalition Government as a solution to the post election challenges that befell the country early last year.
Under TICAD IV agreement Japan committed to double its annual Overseas Development Assistance loans to Africa to $4 billion by 2012 in support of infrastructure and agriculture.
Other highlights of the agreement include financial support of $2.5 billion, including establishment of Japan Bank International Cooperation facility for African investment and emergency food aid amounting to $100 million between May and July last year.
Mr Fukuda who was then Japan Prime Minister chaired the TICAD IV. He is en-route to Botswana to review implementation of the agreement.
About The Author
