President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday cancelled his trip to Los Angeles, USA, mid-air in a dramatic incident that saw his plane literally forced to turn back to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
Uhuru, who was set to fly to Dubai with his Presidential Jet and board a Fly Emirates flight to LA because his jet cannot fly directly to the US due to its small range and low fuel load, did not make it to Dubai. While in Yemen airspace, his plane changed course and returned to Kenya unexpectedly.
Since then, many theories have been floated as to why Uhuru’s plane was turned back with the Government saying the President returned due to the ongoing fighting in Yemen which has made it dangerous for planes to cross their airspace as they risked being shot down literally.
There were reports that the pilot flew the plane for almost an hour into Yemen airspace in the dark (without radar) and when it was back on, he was warned by the Yemen military to turn back where he came from or be shot down, and he chose the former.
Another theory which is being spinned around over Uhuru’s cancellation of the US trip was that Eritrea refused to clear him to use its airspace after being cleared by Ethiopia due to long standing diplomatic tiff between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya and thus the reason for him to return to base.
But are all these theories true about why exactly Uhuru cancelled his LA trip, where he was to attend one of the world biggest business events, and returned to Kenya prematurely?
Reliable sources have intimated that Uhuru’s move to cancel the LA trip had nothing to do with the fighting in Yemen or diplomatic standoff with Eritrea and Ethiopia, but had everything to do with the abrupt change of programming at Milken Institute, where he was allegedly going to be among those to address various innovation forums.
According to sources, Uhuru was removed from the program at the last minute for reasons not yet known and replaced by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. The Head of State only came to know about the change of program while on air prompting him to cancel his trip. After all, he was not going to be just a spectator listening to Kagame.
Kagame was the only African President who was listed to speak at the Milken Institute Corporate and Investor Roundtable, where he will give a talk on behalf of Kenyan and Rwandan delegations, and only invited guests will be allowed.
In a nutshell, Kenya was not among the countries listed to participate in the Milken Institute Event where corporate and Government officials meet to discuss serious business.
The only ‘Kenyan’ invited to speak at the forum is Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore, in his capacity as a corporate leader and not as a Kenyan representative.
So now you know why His Excellency the President returned to Kenya like a thief on Wednesday night just hours after setting off for LA in USA.
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