Zimbabwe and Kenya are making collective efforts to deepen and broaden special cooperation with the resuscitated Zimbabwe-Kenya Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Professor Amon Murwira has said.
Speaking during Kenya’s 59th independence day celebrations in Harare, Prof Murwira said the relations have been intertwined by several exchanges of high-level visits from both Governments and from the business sectors.
Kenya’s Independence Day, referred to as Jamhuri Day, marks 59 years since the country attained independence on December 12, 1963.
President Mnangagwa has visited Kenya twice this year, showing the increasing contact between the two countries.
“In March 2022, at the invitation of the former President, His Excellency Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, President Mnangagwa undertook a State visit to Kenya, which was held back-to-back with the 4th Session of the Zimbabwe-Kenya Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation (JPCC),” said Prof Murwira.
“Notably, during the visit, the two Heads of State presided over the signing of seven instruments of bilateral cooperation in various strategic fields of mutual interest.
“More recently, His Excellency President Mnangagwa attended the inauguration and swearing-in ceremony of his brother, His Excellency Dr William Samoei Ruto as the fifth President of the Republic of Kenya, held in Nairobi in September 2022.”
Prof Murwira said Zimbabwe and Kenya shared common aspirations and faced similar challenges which required the development of a strong partnership.
He was pleased that the collective efforts to step up, deepen and broaden special cooperation between the two countries had resuscitated the Zimbabwe-Kenya JPCC which had not met since January 1997.
“Through this comprehensive partnership, we have managed to achieve many successful partnerships in various strategic sectors, including agriculture, tourism and education,” he said.
“In that spirit, Zimbabwe looks forward to hosting the first mid-term review meeting of our JPCC during the first quarter of 2023. This meeting will not only enable the two sides to take stock of progress in the implementation of agreed areas of cooperation, but also to inject new impetus in our bilateral cooperation through identifying opportunities for greater cooperation in emerging areas, especially in the fields of innovation, science and technology development, which are a common priority area in our respective national development strategies.”
Kenyan Ambassador to Zimbabwe Stella Munyi said the enhanced relations were expanded, deepened and boosted by two State visits by President Mnangagwa to Kenya in March 2022 and during the inauguration ceremony of President William Ruto in Nairobi on September 13, 2022.
“The State visit remains important and historic,” she said.
“It was preceded by Kenya and Zimbabwe holding the third JPCC from 5 to 8 March 2022 in Nairobi. The framework cooperation of the JPCC underpins the strong connections that are now geared into a relationship that will have a more positive transformative impact on the lives of our people.
“During the JPCC, seven instruments of cooperation in the form of memoranda of understanding were signed, and it is our hope that the implementation of the signed instruments will bear positive outcomes in the diverse areas of our mutual cooperation.
“This cooperation continues to grow from strength to strength providing a sound basis for seizing a range of opportunities for enhanced and mutual development.”
Ambassador Munyi said the two countries were now considering strategic targeted sectors for mutual trade and investment.
“Early this year, ZimTrade organised a visit to Kenya to establish key sectors for further investments,” she said. – The Herald
