Gachagua Leaves for His First Official Foreign Trip as Deputy President

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Thursday left the country for his first official trip as the country’s second in command.

Gachagua traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, where he will be attending the 2022 YouthConnekt Africa Summit that will begin on October 13th through to October 15th.

The YouthConnekt Africa Summit provides a platform where youth can meet with their African peers, exchange knowledge, and foster new ways of collaboration.

The 5th edition of the YouthConnekt Africa seeks to build a unique convening power for African youth to take up leadership roles in the continent. Over 10,000 participants from Africa and the rest of the world are expected to attend the meeting.

The summit will include a range of plenaries, roundtables, youth labs, exhibitions, training sessions, exchange, and networking lounges, and pop-up events where young people will have multiple occasions to network and directly exchange with governments and business leaders as well as representatives of international organizations, and present their solutions to Africa’s challenges.

Some of the themes that will be addressed include youth contribution to climate action and sustainable peace and security; cultural, creative Industry, and sports economy; skilling for the digital economy; agriculture and food systems; trade and youth health.

Gachagua is accompanied by a number of Kenya Kwanza MPs including Karungo Wathang'wa (Kiambu Senator), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu MP), Sylvanus Osoro (South Mugirango), Linet Toto (Bomet Woman Representative) among others.

His trip comes days after President Ruto toured Uganda and Tanzania, where he held bilateral talks with Presidents Museveni and Suluhu.

On Wednesday, Azimio La Umoja party leader Raila Odinga questioned the source of funds for President Ruto’s numerous foreign trips following his inauguration last month. This is despite the Kenya Kwanza administration claiming that they found empty coffers when they took over from President Kenyatta.