President Uhuru Kenyatta is this weekend expected to jet out to the US ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday.
Speaking to the Star on the phone yesterday, State House spokesperson Kanze Dena said Uhuru will be accompanied by a number of people.
She said they will meet with businesspersons before meeting the US President at the White House.
“Well, the President will meet President Trump on Monday next week. He will be leaving over the weekend though I cannot specify exactly when,” Dena, who is also the head of Presidential Strategic and Communication Unit, said.
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Trump, who is serving his first term since his election in November 2016, invited Uhuru to the White House.
The two Presidents are expected to hold discussions on ways to broaden their strategic partnership based on shared democratic values and mutual interests.
A press statement from the White House said Trump and Uhuru’s meeting will reaffirm the long-standing relationship between the two countries with a view of making Kenya a cornerstone of peace and stability in Africa, and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
“The two leaders will explore ways to bolster trade and investment while strengthening security cooperation,” the statement reads.
Trump has pledged to support Kenya’s unity and peace initiative marked by the handshake by Uhuru and Opposition chief Raila Odinga.
In July 2015, President Barack Obama made a historic trip as the first sitting US President to visit Kenya, a tour hailed to have reinforced the strong ties between the American and Kenyan people.
US private sector interest in Kenya remains robust with numerous American companies engaged in Kenya, especially within the technology, consumer services, banking, and finance sectors.
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Many American companies have their regional or Africa-wide headquarters in Nairobi. Kenya enjoys preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
US exports to Kenya include agricultural products, aircraft parts, and machinery with imports, including apparel, coffee, and tea.
Following Uhuru’s election in 2013, relations with the US somewhat took a dip when he forged a new foreign policy looking East away from traditional western allies.
Kenya’s participation in the Boston Marathon and New York Marathon has been viewed to have increased ordinary Americans’ consciousness of the country.
The 1998 bomb attack targetting the US Embassy in Kenya, and subsequent hits by the al Shabaab, has drawn the two countries politically closer due to the shared fate.
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