George Williams, 25th Feb 2024
The President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni has hosted his counterpart Kenyan President William Ruto and his nemesis Raila Odinga at his country home in Kisozi where issues of mutual interest for both countries were discussed key among them being petroleum related issues.
“I was happy to meet President Ruto and Rt. Hon. Odinga this afternoon at my farm in Kisozi. We discussed issues of mutual interest between our two countries. I welcome them” Museveni stated on his Twitter handle.
William Ruto said that key among issues discussed were regarding energy and petroleum.
“I had the pleasure of meeting President Kaguta Museveni at his Kisozi country home in Uganda. We discussed critical issues that affect our two countries such as energy and petroleum” Ruto said
This follows Petroleum Supply Amendment Act 2023 that was passed at the end of last year by Parliament in which government of Uganda monopolized the importation of petroleum products directly from the producers as opposed to buying from middlemen. This move didn’t go well with Kenyan government which could have caused the meeting to happen.
However analysts say that the attendence of Odinga in the meeting could have been related to political disagreements between President Ruto and Raila Odinga which caused demonstrations following the disputed the 2022 Presidential election which interrupted business and trade.
Whereas many looked at Museveni as having supported Ruto against Odinga in the recent Kenyan election, he is looked at as a key figure and power broker in the regional politics. Last week Museveni also met a delegation of leaders of the Transition Council of Sudan where issues of peace and dialogue within war tone Sudan were discussed
