President Uhuru Kenyatta Cancels Angola Trip Over Mandera Attack

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday cancelled a trip to Angola where Heads of States and Governments are set to meet to discuss regional security.

The last minute cancellation was made after 12 people died on Tuesday morning following a terrorist attack in Mandera.

A statement from State House noted that President Kenyatta made the decision to cancel the trip in solidarity with the victims and families of those who lost their loved ones in the bloody attack.

“Following the attack, the President has called off his official visit to Angola to attend security summit in solidarity with the families who have lost their loved ones, and those injured , whom, he wishes a speedy recovery,” the statement read in part.

Deputy President William Ruto will now represent Kenyatta at the 7th High-Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism (ROM) of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Region.

In 2014, the President Kenyatta was criticised after he failed to cut short a Dubai trip that he was undertaking at a time when Al-Shabaab gunmen shot and beheaded 36 labourers at a quarry in the troubled county of Mandera.