President Uhuru Kenyatta was yesterday afternoon received by King Phillipe at the Royal Palace in Brussels at the start of his two-day official visit to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union.

Uhuru, who is accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Raychelle Omamo (Foreign Affairs), Betty Maina (Trade) and Aden Mohammed (EAC), held private talks with King Phillipe.

During the two-day visit, Uhuru  is scheduled to meet the President of the European Council Charles Michel to discuss Kenya-EU relations and address a Kenya-Belgium business forum. 

Also on the President’s itinerary is a meeting with the Secretary General of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Dr Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti and an address to the organisation’s Committee of Ambassadors.

President Uhuru, who arrived in Brussels on Sunday evening aboard a Kenya Airways aircraft, is the President-in-Office of the 79-member OACPS.

Speaking ahead of Uhuru’s arrival, Kenya’s ambassador to Belgium Prof Jacob Kaimenyi said during the visit, the Head of State will address matters related to Kenya-Belgium, and Kenya-EU relations as well as regional agenda in his capacity as the Chairperson of the East African Community.  

In his capacity as the President-in-Office of the OACPS, Uhuru will discuss the progress of the post-Cotonou agreement with his European Council counterpart and get an update on the instrument’s roll out progress from the Secretary General of the Brussels-based multilateral institution.

“We have had the Cotonou agreement which has been there for 20 years, coming to an end in 2020.

We have negotiated another agreement between the European Union and OACPS, 79 countries, called post-Cotonou agreement, post 2020 so to speak,” Prof Kaimenyi said.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the progress of the ongoing development of a strategic dialogue framework between Kenya and the EU.  – PSCU