APRM moved to January, away from Nairobi

State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu released a statement on Sunday. Photo/ FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 6 – The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Summit scheduled to take place in Nairobi on Thursday and Friday has been postponed to January with the venue changed to Ethiopia.

In a press statement, State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said the Summit was postponed and the venue changed to Addis Ababa to allow African Union countries which are not part of the 35 subscribed to the APRM, take part.

“The summit will now be held on the margins of the African Union meetings in Addis Ababa in January,” he stated.

President Uhuru Kenyatta was elected Chairman of APRM during the AU Summit held in South Africa in June, taking over from Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

READ: President Kenyatta elected chair of African Peer Review Forum

The organisers, the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, had already spent millions in preparation of the event, including on full newspaper page adverts and on billboards.

Hotels and other tourism related service providers will also likely suffer a set back with 15 African Heads of State and government together with their delegations, having been expected to participate in the two day event that was to take place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

The other high profile international events Kenya was set to host in the next few months include next year’s Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD).

READ: Gambia backs out for Kenya to host TICAD

In December, Kenya is set to be the first African country to host a World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference.

READ: Why hosting WTO is such a big deal for Kenya

Another major world event in the books is the 70^th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which takes place later in the month in New York.

It will be the second UNGA President Uhuru Kenyatta will participate in after skipping the 68^th, on his inauguration, for the reason that both he and his deputy William Ruto could not be out of the country at the same time; Ruto was to be before the Hague based International Criminal Court.

READ: Uhuru will not attend UN General Assembly

It was the first time, since independence, that Kenya was not represented at the General Assembly.

The Assembly takes place days after Kenya’s mission to the United Nations sent a protest note to the Assembly of State Parties in objection to the International Criminal Court’s decision to apply amendments to Rule 68 of procedure in the case Deputy President William Ruto is facing.

READ: Kenya files protest to ASP over rule affecting Ruto case

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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