President William Ruto and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, November 9, witnessed the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and a cooperation agreement to augment bilateral relations between Nairobi and Pretoria.
The three include corporation deals in the areas of immigration, housing, trade and investments.
“The two countries have also agreed on a return policy when immigration laws and regulations are breached to make sure that bad elements that try to infiltrate our borders are dealt with firmly,” President Ruto confirmed.
The three deals are further segmented into focus areas of correctional services, free visa regime, export-import markets and affordable housing technologies.
“We are delighted to have presided over the signing of four instruments of cooperation that will play a definitive role in Kenya-South Africa relations.
“There are three MoU and one agreement on cooperation in the fields of correctional services, cooperation in the fields of housing, human settlement, cooperation between Kenya School of Government and the National School of Government from South Africa and agreement on audio-visual co-production,” affirmed President Ruto.
The two presidents also directed their respective ministers of trade to develop a framework that will be used to identify, monitor, and resolve the Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs).
Ruto lamented that the NTBs have been limiting trade potential between both countries to strengthen trade and investment.
However, not everything was concluded during Ramaphosa’s visit to Nairobi, hence, they promised to hold further talks in order to address the issue of restrictions on meat imports by both countries with a view to rescinding the limitations.
“Our officials will fasten the process of putting this into effect. We will review this in a year’s time or so to see how this is functioning,” added Rampahosa.
The two presidents have also pledged to ensure that their countries will take part in programmes that will establish sustainable peace and security in Africa and the world through the Africa Union Peace and Security Council and UN Security Council Frameworks.
“At the continental level, we the just concluded “Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities” between the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) brokered by the African Union and mediated by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and the former Deputy President of South Africa, Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka,” President Ruto noted.
“We are concerned over the continued threats to international peace and security particularly conflicts in the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region and the Sahel and we appeal to all parties to ensure the full and comprehensive implementation of the agreement,” Ruto added.
