The President of Kenya, Dr William Samoei Ruto, says the bond between Uganda and Kenya is growing stronger.
This, he said, moments after a meeting with Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, on Saturday at State House Entebbe. Ruto is in Uganda to attend the Sunday celebrations of 60 years of Uganda’s independence at Kololo.
His assurance of firm relations comes days after an online tiff between Kenya and Uganda that was triggered by a tweet made by Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, President Yoweri Museveni’s son, claiming his army could capture Nairobi in no more than two weeks.
Gen Muhoozi had also tweeted that if Kenya’s retired president Uhuru Kenyatta had run for a third term he would have won. In Kenya’s constitution, a president can only serve two terms.
Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs distanced itself from the first son’s tweets and President Museveni has since apologised for his son’s actions, even though he defended the decision to promote his son to a full-time general.
Kenya is Uganda’s main trading partner with 15 percent of imports and 10 percent of exports.
Also, Uganda is Kenya’s top trading partner in Africa and third in the world. Kenya’s export to Uganda was approximately USD 832 million in 2021 according to Kenya’s Export Performance Report.
Over the same period, Kenya’s imports from Uganda were valued at USD 305.2 million resulting to a positive trade balance of USD 526.8 million in favour of Kenya, rating Uganda as a critical market for Kenyan export products.
