Finland’s Stubb exposes 7,000km difference with interviewing Kenyan VIPs

It is this distance that Finnish President Dr Alexander Stubb sought to bridge this week when he made the first-ever state visit by a Finnish President to Kenya.

Only Former President Daniel Moi made a visit to Finland in 1987.

Mr Moi’s four-country Nordic visit ended in disaster when Denmark refused to receive him because it coincided with their elections.

He then cancelled his visit to Norway and Sweden following allegations in the press of human rights violations by his government. 

Thirty-eight years later, an awkward moment arose at State House, Nairobi, when President William Ruto was asked about human rights violations, including abductions by his government.

His response that all those who were disappeared or abducted last year have been returned home has since been seen as an admission that the government has been behind the cases. 

Dr Stubb held bilateral talks at State House with his host President Ruto, his accompanying delegation of business leaders met with Kenyan business community and government officials to discuss investment opportunities and on Tuesday morning, the visiting President had a morning jog with our famed athletes at Karura Forest before later giving a public lecture at the University of Nairobi.

Comparison of States

His visit presents a comparison of similarities and differences between the two countries as well as their leaders.

Whereas Kenyans have routinely complained of State largesse, Dr Stubb took a commercial Turkish Airlines to Kenya and had a relatively small delegation (by Kenyan standards) accompanying him.

Dr Stubb, like his Kenyan counterpart is a PhD holder, having specialized in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.

A scholar of note, Dr Stubb has over 15 publications to his name on various issues.

Pleasantly surprised

On the first day of his visit, we got a chance for an exclusive interview with Dr Stubb at the Finnish ambassador’s residence.

The content of the interview aside, the meeting with the President made the distance between Kenya and Finland felt like a yawning chasm.

When we arrived at the residence, nothing outside the gate suggested there was a president inside the compound. Only four cars were parked outside. Having been used to security checks (even while entering supermarkets), we were pleasantly surprised (after identification) to be ushered in without being asked to step out of our car and taken through metal detectors.

"The President is in a meeting with some people. Come in. He’ll be with you in 20 minutes. Go ahead and set up your equipment here,” Viivi Nousiainen, the political and press officer at the Finland embassy in Nairobi, welcomed us.

We were in for the stark differences between Kenya and Finland.

We settled down to unpack our equipment and set up the living room for the interview. Having been used hawk-eyed security officers around areas where a Kenyan president is, it felt odd to have so much freedom to make even simple decisions as to which seat we wanted Dr Stubb to sit on.

We decided a simple safari chair was the best and nobody questioned our decision.

There was no side table or any other accoutrements. I even sat on the chair (mimicking the President) for Fidel and Jane, our camera persons to choose the best shooting angles. During events in Kenya such a thing is unimaginable. A security officer is usually designated to guard the President’s chair hours before his arrival.

Viivi came back to alert us that the meeting was almost over and that we should get ready for the interview.

Three minutes later, the President burst through the corridor followed by the ambassador Pirkka Tapiola, Viivi and two other officials.

“Hey guys, my name is Alex,” Dr Stubb cheerfully introduced himself as he shook our hands in greeting.

“So where do we do the interview?” he posed.

Fidel showed him to his seat and fitted the mic on his lapel. We needed to understand the import of his visit to Kenya.

“I’m a firm believer that the world order is changing. We’re living sort of a post-World War I, post-World War II and post-Cold War moment. It’ll take about five to ten years for the world to settle and there will be a few key countries or swing states that are going to decide the way in which we’re going to tilt and Kenya, for me is one of them and that’s why I wanted to come to Kenya,” Dr Stubb said.

He said that in addition to trade, his visit focused on areas of cooperation in education, technology and other industrial forms.

“President Ruto and I look at the world when it comes to peace and mediation in a very similar way. So I wanted to learn more about the regional conflicts that we see here. For instance, [the war in] Sudan and DRC and then in exchange I wanted to give my two cents on Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” Dr Stubb explained his mission to Kenya.

He touched on the Finland scholarship scandal organised by Uasin Gishu County.

He acknowledged that he was not in office at the time as he only rose to power in March last year. The matter is still before the courts.

“What happened, from I understand, was very unfortunate and I think mistakes were made all around but I hope this will be settled in the courts. I hope that the investigations will lead to solutions,” Dr Stubb said.

We chatted about the simplicity of the Finnish President on our way back to the office.

“When you have not wronged anyone, there is no need to fear anyone. That’s why there’s minimal security around him,” quipped James, our logistics officer.

No one contradicted him, for we had all travelled the distance between Nairobi and Helsinki.

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