President William Ruto over the weekend, on Sunday, made an impromptu visit to Uganda where he held a closed-door meeting with President Yoweri Museveni, just a week after the Ugandan leader hosted former President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Entebbe State House.
Even though President Ruto said they held talks on matters of mutual interest especially on trade, security, and agriculture, a source who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity reveals, the Ugandan leader summoned Ruto after he (Ruto) approved the blocking of Ugandan milk into Kenya last week.
Kenya Kwanza administration has been accusing the Kenyatta Family of having its tentacles in the country’s dairy sector, with claims of flooding the Kenyan market with foreign milk, which has been affecting local farmers and stunting the growth of Kenya’s dairy sector.
I thank H.E William S. Ruto for paying me a visit this evening at State House Entebbe. We discussed bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. pic.twitter.com/dDGQ2fHmlV
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) August 13, 2023
”The two leaders discussed the current push and pull between Kenya and Uganda over powdered milk. The root cause has everything to do with the outcome of 2022 politics, as well as the animosity that has been witnessed between UhuruRuto, which has now spilled over to Uganda,” the source says, adding that President Museveni used his close relationship with the two leaders (Uhuru and Ruto) to resolve the current impasse.
Last week, while addressing the dairy sector stakeholders in Mt Kenya, President Ruto explained how a Kenyan company was exploiting its relationship with Ugandan authorities to import powdered milk in that country, then process it to be able to access the Kenyan market.
”There is milk from the friend (Uganda). It is not milk from their farms, it is milk from abroad then taken to his friend and improved. The people doing this is a company based in Kenya, so they want to use the advantage of friendship,” Ruto said.
Long Live Father of the region President Museveni,long live East Africa pic.twitter.com/nF4VQ1MXFc
— Kamukama Fredie #FutureSecured #M7Nomination02Nov (@kamukamafredie) August 7, 2023
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family owns Brookside Limited which has been affected by the blockage.
The company, mostly involved in dairy processing, packages long-life milk, cream, butter, yoghurt, ghee, and milk powder in Uganda, and the East Africa regional export market last month retrenched over 50 percent of its staff following a drop in the exported products.
