Weeks after being appointed as the
Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) forForeign Affairs and International Trade, Ababu Namwamba on Wednesday preside over the closing ceremony of an Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)workshop held in Naivasha.
The event served as his first official duty in office.
Addressing the attendants, Ababu lauded all theparticipants for engaging in the workshop and coming up with better mechanisms to facilitate commerce within the region.
"I commend all the participants for worthwhile input, which will no doubt enrich the final outcome document. This initiativecould not have come at a better time, considering the magnitude of the challenge facing us in the Horn of Africa.
"I have no doubt submissions here have greatly enriched provisions of the draft protocol, and by extension addressed theperceived bottlenecks that would otherwise have been a hindrance to its effective implementation," he said.
The former Labour Party of Kenya chairsaid that governments were obligated to ensuring free movement of people, goods and services.
"It is in this context that His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta decreed that Kenya opens her doors to peoples across ourcontinent as part of deliberate efforts to boost intra-Africa trade and investment.But of course, opening the doors must be done in consonance with the rule of law so as to protect our citizens againsthuman trafficking and related organized criminal activities," he said.
Ababu will work under CS Monica Juma.