Kenya dancing on South Africa’s grave at G7 summit – Lawyer Ogada

According to the legal expert, Kenya lacks a sober diplomatic architecture, and President William Ruto's international presence may negatively impact the East African Community (EAC) policies.

"You cannot go as William Ruto to negotiate on things that may impact our regional commitments in EAC," he told Citizen TV on Wednesday. 

"He parades himself as the articulator of Kenya’s foreign policy. The evidence out there shows a president and a policy pivoting towards the West."

He holds that President Ruto's international travels are simply transactional and bear zero benefit for Kenya's economic growth.

"Look at how we have been voting and acting internationally, an increasingly transactional approach. Today we go this way, tomorrow we go that way. It is all about transactions that are not making tangible, meaningful sense for Kenya," he said.

The counsel further argued that Kenya was given a backhanded invite to the G7 after South Africa, which was reportedly invited initially, was excluded after pressure from the United States.

"Why is Kenya, for example, at the G7? Because South Africa was sacrificed. Why was South Africa sacrificed? Because South Africa dared to take some people to the ICJ. And so we are, in effect, dancing on the blood of a fellow African country," he argued.

According to reports, South Africa was excluded from the summit after claims that US President Donald Trump had threatened to boycott the summit if South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa attended.

President Ramaphosa downplayed the reports, saying non-attendance by a country outside the bloc should not come as a surprise.

"The invitation to the G7 does not mean that you're being snubbed if you're not invited or you're being ignored," said Ramaphosa, according to the BBC.

France has, however, denied yielding to any US pressure, saying it had decided to invite Kenya this time.

Relations between the US and South Africa have deteriorated since Trump took office last year, with the two sides clashing over trade, diplomacy and South Africa's strategic partnerships.

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary argued during a past interview with Citizen TV that South Africa's representation to the G7 is not mandatory, as France, the host, has the liberty to choose its preferred African representative.

"In the wisdom of the French, based on Kenya being a bridge builder and a continental mobiliser, they saw Kenya would play just as good a role as South Africa," he said.

"Kenya will be going in a representative capacity."

Kenya's invitation lies on the backdrop of the Africa Forward Summit hosted in Kenya jointly by President Ruto and his French Counterpart Emmanuel Macron, on May 11 and 12 in Nairobi.

The summit, attended by over 30 African Heads of State, called for the creation of an autonomous continent, fair global inclusion in development and resource distribution.

President Ruto has used the G7 platform to reiterate the reforms in the global financial system, advocating for easier access to credit at scale for African nations.

He has also championed stronger partnerships between Africa and the world's major economies, particularly on trade, infrastructure development, energy, climate resilience and innovation.