A star-studded lineup featuring Heads of State, 2,500 dignitaries and members of the diplomatic corps, and thousands of Kenyans will grace the swearing-in ceremony of Kenya’s soon-to-be fifth President, William Samoei Ruto.

 

Among the who’s-who of those invited include all the regional Presidents in the East African Community. 

Nonetheless, the invite list could have been longer were it not that the 77th high-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is set to open on the same day – Tuesday 13 September, in New York, thereby likely affecting the travels of leaders who had shown interest in attending.

 

Former Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ababu Namwamba, was tasked with coordinating the invite process in partnership with the said Ministry. A total of 17 Presidents (from the 40 invited), eight Prime Ministers and Deputy Presidents, and seven foreign ministers will attend the inauguration ceremony.

 

Who is Coming:

 

• Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

 

• President Paul Kagame of Rwanda

 

• South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir

 

• Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud

 

• Dennis Nguesso, the President of Congo

 

• Ismail Guelleh, the President of Djibouti

 

• Filipe Nyusi the President of Mozambique

 

• Brahim Ghail the President of Sahrawi Republic

 

• Emmerson Mnangagwa the President of Zimbabwe

 

• Azali Assousmani the President of Comoros

 

• Lazarus Chakwera, the President of Malawi.

 

• Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia 

 

• Prime Minister Makihara Hideki of Japan

 

• Choung Byoung Gug, the Chairman of the Central Committee of the People Power Party (SOuth Korea)

 

• Liu Yuxi, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs.

 

• Umaro Embalo the President of Guinea Bissau

 

• Waveli Ramkalawan the President of Seychelles

 

• Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Ines Maria Chapman Waugh

 

• Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (Equatorial Guinea Vice President)

 

• Mahamadu Bawumia ( Ghana Vice President)

 

• David Mabuza ( South Africa Vice President)

 

• Sorena Sattari (Iran Vice President)

 

• Yemi Osinbajo (Nigeria Vice President)

 

• Malik Agar (Sudan’s transitional council)

 

• Maja Gojkovic (Serbia Deputy Prime Minister)

 

• The Speaker of Algeria Ibrahim Boughali

 

• Yawa Tsegan, President of the National Assembly of Togo

 

• Former German President Christian Wulff

 

• United Kingdom’s Minister for Commonwealth Vicky Ford

 

• India’s minister for External Affairs, Vellamvelli Muraleedharan.

 

• Top representatives of the United Nations, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Commonwealth, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, African Union and European Union (EU) are also expected to attend.

 

• A United States delegation led by Honorable Katherine Tai, principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy . Other members of the team are Honorable Meg Whitman Uthe United States Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya), Honorable Colin Allred (United States Representative for Texas), Honorable Mary Catherine Phee (Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State), and Dr. Monde Muyangwa (Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development.).

 

The gates of Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani where the swearing-in ceremony event will take place opened at 4 a.m. with all invited guests expected to be seated by 10 a.m.

 

The President-elect will assume office by taking and subscribing to the oath of affirmation of allegiance, and the oath or affirmation for the execution of the functions of the office, as prescribed in the Third Schedule. The oath of office will be administered by the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi and witnessed by Chief Justice Martha Koome.

 

55-year-old Ruto will be Kenya’s fifth president after Jomo Kenyatta (1964-1978), Daniel Moi (1978-2002), Mwai Kibaki (2002-2013) and Uhuru Kenyatta (2013-2022).