President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to make a state visit in South Africa. This is according to the country’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Dr Naledi Pandor who made the announcement yesterday during the launch of Kenya-South Africa Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) which seeks to steer engagements between government departments in both countries to expand cooperation within the various sectors.

Dr Pandor together with her Kenyan counterpart Ambassador Raychelle Omamo led the inaugural session of the JCC between the two governments.

“The two ministers reviewed and exchanged views on the status of bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved in various areas of cooperation since its signing. They hailed the robust relations between the two countries and emphasized the need to continue working jointly towards enhancing political, economic, and defense cooperation,” a joint statement indicated.

At the same time, the ministers invited negotiations of agreements under six areas including correctional services, political consultations, migration, tourism, return of nationals refused entry and illegal entrants, and diplomatic training.

According to Amb Omamo, she revealed that they exchanged views on possible areas of cooperation and collaboration committing to address all barriers that hinder bilateral relations adding that the two countries also welcomed the non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from the Latin America Group to coordinate and support each other’s initiatives in advancing the African Agenda in Security Council.

“These areas include trade and investment, agriculture, art, livestock and fisheries, education, health, science and tech, energy, housing, infrastructure development, regional and continental development, multinational cooperation among others,” said Amb Omamo.

South Africa and Kenya have several bilateral agreements in place including the six which were signed during former President Jacob Zuma’s State Visit to Kenya in 2016.

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