For the majority of Tuesday, Larry Madowo, the international correspondent for CNN, was the talk of the town in Kenya.
He’s been at the center of several conversations in Kenya as a result of a post he made on his X page that received mixed reactions.
The renowned writer exposed weaknesses in President William Ruto’s attendance at the Rome Italy-Africa summit in his post.
The journalist pointed out that Ruto had objected to situations the previous year in which all African presidents were called to meetings and given little time to present their cases.
Madowo shared a previous speech in which Ruto ostensibly accused Madowo of using doublespeak and vowed never to attend such meetings again.
“President William Ruto said he + other African leaders would not be summoned by 1 country. The African Union would represent them going forward. He’s standing just steps away from both the AU chair & the AU Commission chair in Italy while other East African presidents skipped,” Madowo’s post reads.
His post rattled a section of X users who fired back at him.
The President Press Secretary Emmanuel Talam is among those who lashed out at Madowo even as he asked him to listen to the President’s speech where he had addressed the matter.
In his address in Rome, Ruto explained why he opted to attend the Italy-Africa summit despite having vowed to keep off such meetings.
“Let me begin by appreciating President Sergio Matterella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Government of Italy for convening this Summit. I have previously noted that an invitation extended by one country to all 54 African nations did not necessarily serve Africa’s best interests,” Ruto said.
“But those of us present at this conference, representing our colleagues, find it different and inspiring due to the pragmatic approach you, have taken, Madam Prime Minister.”
The CNN journalist, however, also received backing from another lot of Kenyans on the X platform.
