Kenya’s President William Ruto faces questions about unchartered ‘transactional diplomacy’ in which private interests supersede wider national and regional interests. Kenya drew lots of interest after it recently announced plans to set up an embassy in Pristina, the Kosovar capital.

 Ruto is accused of sabotaging and pursuing private business interests at the expense of Kenya’s interests, which overlap with regional interests – East African Community and African Union.

This is how the president’s evolving relationship with Kosovar senior officials is viewed following a blitzkrieg of photos of him in Pristina with Kosovar officials that have stirred allegations of corruption and diversion of public resources into propping private interests.

Pictures of Ruto with Kosovar “friends” posted on Instagram with telling captions point to interests that go beyond his national and regional remit.

Captions of some of the photos also suggest Ruto was in Kosovo on August 16, 2022 – albeit erroneously – just hours after he had been declared winner of the presidential election.

Foreign office and office of the president dismissed the allegations as “illogical” but stayed clear of Serbia’s allegations that Ruto was bribed with big businesses to recognise Kosovo.

However, the lid over Ruto’s ‘transactional diplomacy’ was lifted by former Serbian ambassador to Kenya Dragan Zupanjevac, who in a diplomatic note after Kenya recognised Kosovo as an independent state, derided the links between Nairobi and Pristina as inspired by “corruption” and personal interests.

In Nairobi, the president’s office dismissed the allegations as “illogical” but would not shed light on the president’s personal ties with Kosovar regime.

Sources told Tell Media Kosovo is on charm offensive mission and it takes advantage of every opportunity to cast itself in the international realm as autonomous in similar manner to Somaliland in East Africa and Polisario in North Africa are doing.

The alleged private business links with Kosovo are currently a subject of intense discussion in foreign capitals, where Kenya’s diplomacy is increasingly sullied. The latest to question Ruto’s foreign relations is Washington. US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch wants America to review “Kenya’s major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ally status granted by former President Joe Biden last year”. Ruto also has unresolved diplomatic issues with Serbia, Sudan and Morocco.

Since President Ruto recognised Kosovo as an independent state in March this year, Kenya has elicited interest in Eastern Europe and at the United Nations, with East African nation’s diplomacy under the radar. While the United Nations has been cautious to formally recognise Kosovo’s independence from Serbia – after it seceded from in 2008 – Kenya’s move was greeted with celebration in Pristina.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008.

Fully captioned photos from Kosovar capital, Pristina, show “President-elect of Kenya William Ruto” with Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli.

Asked to shed light on when this trip happened, Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Kipkorir Sing’oei initially denied Ruto ever travelled to Kosovo in official capacity.

“President hasn’t travelled to Kosovo since his election (on August 9, 2022). He did travel sometimes in 2019 on a private visit while he was DP (deputy president). He has family friends in the country,” Dr Sing’oei told Tell Media.

However, when shown photos of Ruto in Kosovo, the principal secretary became non-committal, saying, “No idea who the person posting this is, nor if the trip happened.” He added, “I don’t work at SH (State House). I work at MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The reference to State House was in relation to a question about the ‘status’ of the ever-present Jetlir Zyberaj, who our contacts refer to as a “permanent fixture” or a “common denominator” during the president’s foreign tours and is a regular visitor at State House and the president’s rural home in Sugoi, Uasin Gishu County.

However, Munyori Buku was acerbic in response to alleged Ruto visit and private business links with Kosovo regime.

“It is not logical. Ruto was declared winner on the evening of August 15. He even had tea with his team at a restaurant in Bomas of Kenya precincts that evening. You can’t be declared president on August 15, then travel to Kosovo on August 16, 2022. It doesn’t make sense! It is illogical. Whoever is telling you that is giving you fake information. This is where fake starts to lose meaning,” Head of Communication in the President’s Office, Munyori Buku, said.

Buku, however, steered clear of the relationship between Jetlir Zyberaj and the president’s family and his alleged business tied with current Kosovar regime.

“I don’t know anything. I cannot comment on that,” he responded to inquiry.

Kenya’s recognition of Kosovo was met with searing attacks on the person of Ruto and Kenya by former Serbian ambassador in Nairobi, Dragan Zupanjevac.

In a statement in March, Zupanjevac blasted Ruto, saying, “When Kenya was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2021 and 2022, it took a principled stance in sessions regarding Kosovo. Now, a change has occurred – former so-called Kosovo Minister Pacolli, who is de facto engaged in corrupt relations with the president, financed this shift in stance, and this is not good for Serbia.”

Asked if the Kenya president has businesses in Kosovo, Dr Sing’oei replied, “I cannot comment on issue 2 & 3 as they are outside the scope of my responsibilities and I have no information.”

The two issues were questions about whether Ruto is doing business with Kosovar president and prime minister. The other one was about Ruto and Jetlir Zyberaj, with whom they appear together in photographs.

Former Serbian ambassador to Kenya, Zupanjevac, says of Ruto, “We can say that the main influence here comes from former Minister Pacolli, who has entered into commercially lucrative relations with the Kenyan president. He began these ties back in 2019 when the deputy president visited Pristina. At the time, Kenyan authorities denied this to me and claimed it was fake news, but in the end, Ruto himself admitted to me that he had been there.”

In pictures taken in Kenya, Jetlir Zyberaj is captured gallivanting with members of President Ruto’s kitchen cabinet.

Kikaya, says there is more to the allegation than meets the eye.

“A foreign visit in official capacity a week after election (and before swearing-in) is not normal. It is not possible. Unless it was just a private business trip or between colleagues or friends, and it coincided with his being elected president or it was arranged earlier. Even if it had been arranged earlier, under the changed circumstances, what would it have cost him to move it to a later date?” observed Kikaya, Kenya’s former ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Tell Media reached out to former Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma to shed light on the alleegationst but there was no response to calls and inquires sent by text. Dr Monica Juma is currently presidential advisor on diplomacy and defence. Among other things, the Tell Media wanted to stablish if Ruto travelled as president, deputy president (which he was before swearing-in) or private citizen. In addition, there have been questions about Ruto’s private business interests in Kosovo.

At the Ruto was elected, he was not on talking terms with then President Uhuru Kenyatta. Therefore it would have been difficult for President Kenyatta to clear him as required by law and protocol to travel abroad.

“A president-elect is not a president,” the Kikaya explains. “Kosovo was yearning for international recognition having been under subjugation for many years. Diplomatic relations with Kenya make sense to Kosovo, but not Kenya.”

On social media, Jetlir Zyberaj, a Kosovar national, gloats over his camaraderie with Ruto’s kitchen cabinet drawn mainly from the president’s Kalenjin community.

In one of the photos he appears with Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, the caption reads: “With my timeless friends Oscar Sudi, Member of Parliament of Kenya, on my way to Eldoret County.” The picture is taken on a helipad at an unspecified location – possibly the president’s private home in Karen.

Contacted for comment on the “timeless” friendship, Oscar Sudi did not respond.

On Jetlir Zyberaj’s loud presence in Kenya, Tell Media drew blanks when it sought information from Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen through his Communications Director Julius Sigei, who did not respond to inquiries.

On his social media pages, Jetlir Zyberaj’s profile casts him as a key player in the deal that resulted in Kenya recognising Kosovo as an independent state. He drew even more interest when he attended Ruto’s swearing-in at Kasarani Stadium.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced following Kenya’s official recognition of Kosovo that he had spoken with President Ruto to arrange reciprocal visits. Kurti subsequently asked to Ruto to open an embassy in Pristina, according to state-owned Reporteri.net newspaper.

“Today is a historic day for Kosovo, as Kenya has officially recognised our republic. I had the pleasure of speaking with President William Ruto after this historic moment. We invited each other for official visits and agreed that the next step would be the establishment of diplomatic relations. Proud and honoured by this achievement, I extended an invitation to Kenya to open an embassy in Pristina. Our two countries share a history of great sacrifices for freedom and independence. I look forward to deepening and expanding our cooperation in culture, trade, and investment,” Kurti wrote.

• A Tell Media report / By Juma Saminis