Senior officials of the Rwandan Government, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo receives President Kenyatta in Kigali for Commonwealth meeting

To attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, President Uhuru Kenyatta flew into Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday evening (CHOGM).

President Kenyatta was welcomed by senior members of the Rwandan government, including Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo and Kenya’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Manoah Esipisu, upon his arrival at the Kigali International Airport.

In addition to a number of other pre-summit commitments, CS Omamo arrived in Kigali earlier than the President to attend the pre-CHOGM Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

Delegates from the 54 Commonwealth member states will participate in this year’s CHOGM to discuss and address global concerns and Commonwealth goals.

Over 5,000 people from the government, business, and civil society have registered for the summit, which has as its theme “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming.”

The global conference, which was initially scheduled for 2020 but was twice postponed owing to the Covid-19 outbreak, has drawn a large crowd of Commonwealth leaders to the Rwandan capital city since Monday, June 20.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Kigali on Tuesday for the summit of the Commonwealth leaders on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the head of the Commonwealth.

While his British counterpart Boris Johnson arrived on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Kigali on Wednesday night.

Among the African Commonwealth leaders attending the conference in Kigali are Presidents Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and Hage Geingob of Namibia.