President Uhuru Kenyatta has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 35th session of the African Union Heads of State. He will present the continent’s malaria progress report to fellow leaders, State House said in a statement on Saturday, February 5.The WHO’s 2021 World Malaria Report, released on December 6, 2021, stated that malaria killed more people than previously estimated — 627,000 in 2020, up from 409,000 in 2019.
That increase was due, in part, to the revised number of malaria deaths among children under the age of 5, with malaria accounting for 7.8 per cent of deaths recorded in 2020, an increase from the previous 4.8 per cent.The latest report also underscored that Africa shoulders a heavier burden of malaria than previously accounted for, with 96 per cent of global deaths (601,920) from the disease occurring in the African region in 2020.
President Kenyatta will have additional activities during the summit in addition to providing the malaria progress report.“Additionally, President Kenyatta will witness the transfer of AU’s chairmanship from President Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo to President Macky Sall of Senegal, among other bilateral and multilateral engagements,” State House said on Twitter.
President Tshisekedi was voted as the Union’s chairperson for 2021 on February 6, 2021, during the 34th regular AU session, which was held virtually. He took over from South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who had finished his term as AU chairperson in 2020.
