OPINION: Why Mudavadi's foreign visits are central to Rutos foreign and domestic policy

OPINION: Why Mudavadi's foreign visits are central to Rutos foreign and domestic policy

President William Ruto and Chief Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi

By Prof. David Monda

Chief Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has made several foreign visits that are central to President Ruto’s foreign and domestic policy.

Ruto’s strategy in utilising Mudavadi as a key assistant in implementing the country’s ‘Looking West’ foreign policy, is twofold; one is domestic politics and the other is foreign policy.

For domestic constituents, Mudavadi is a key factor in balancing the growing power and autonomy of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to keep Mt Kenya guessing as to who Ruto’s successor will be.

This is to say, Mudavadi will be a key element to Ruto’s reelection in 2027. For Ruto to play offence against Raila or the Azimio candidate, he will not only need to keep his core voting bloc in Mt Kenya and Rift Valley but eat into Azimio's support in Western Kenya. Mudavadi is central to this pursuit.

On the foreign policy front, looking at the countries Mudavadi visited with Ruto or on his behalf (US, UK, Brazil, Nigeria, Azerbaijan, Burundi), economic diplomacy, Pan Africanism, South-South Cooperation, Non-Alignment and regional security are central to the Ruto foreign policy matrix.

"Looking West" is centred around strengthening traditional ties between Kenya, the US and the UK hence Mudavadi and Ruto’s visits to these two global powers.

Mudavadi visiting Brazil and Nigeria on behalf of the president emphasized Kenya's leadership and promotion of South-South cooperation with the largest economies in South America and Africa respectively.

In the Nigerian context, the Mudavadi visit also highlights the spirit of Pan-Africanism around shared values of democracy, good governance and the rule of law in the difficult elections both nations passed through recently.

Mudavadi's trip to Azerbaijan for the Non-Aligned Movement meeting shows Kenya's desire to be kept out of great power global competition. Ukraine, in the vicinity of Azerbaijan, highlights this great power rivalry between the US and Russia in Ukraine, next door to Azerbaijan.

Lastly, the trip to the Burundi conference on the DRC shows the primacy of regional peace and security through multilateral frameworks.

The DRC broadly and Great Lakes Region in particular, are central to Kenya's economic expansion into the 90 million people-strong economy of the DRC. The East African Community's latest member.

Ultimately, Mudavadi's soft power diplomacy on behalf of President Ruto underscores the unique peculiarities of the foreign policy interests of individual African states.

It shows the domestic and foreign influences on the executive decisions of principal foreign policymakers in the Global South. How the rising stature of Mudavadi will impact the Deputy President and Foreign Affairs CS Mutua's docket, only time will tell.

Prof. David Monda teaches political science, international relations and foreign policy at City University of New York (CUNY). @dmonda1, davidmonda.com

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Musalia Mudavadi Raila Rigathi Gachagua President Ruto

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