By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 20, 2024 – Kenya’s President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, today on a four-day visit to the United States that will include a State Visit to Washington, D.C. on Thursday, May 23.
“United States Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa highlights the contribution American cities make to U.S. foreign policy and the mutual benefits of expanded societal exchanges with our African partners,” US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken said in a press statement today. “President Ruto’s visit to Atlanta reflects the city’s growing global importance and underscores its central role in America’s progress towards a more inclusive democracy. I welcome President Ruto’s engagements with civic leaders on issues of democratic governance while in Atlanta, as well as his focus on our people-to-people ties, public health partnerships, educational exchanges, investments in shared prosperity, and his engagements with Atlanta’s African Diaspora.”
Noting that during the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit President Joe Biden stated that the “future of Africa and the United States depends on what we can achieve together,” Secretary of State Blinken added, “President Ruto’s visit to Atlanta embodies our joint vision for a 21st century partnership that builds and strengthens relationships beyond capitals. I look forward to welcoming President Ruto to Washington. D.C. later this week and thank the Mayor and Atlanta’s civic leaders for graciously hosting our Kenyan friends.”
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that in Atlanta President Ruto and his delegation will “visit the Carter Presidential Library and Museum, among other engagements.”
On Tuesday, he is due to visit studios owned by entertainment mogul Tyler Perry, who has championed greater diversity in Hollywood to “explore opportunities within the creative economy”, AFP said.
The AFP report added, “Ruto will meet a Congressional delegation on Wednesday and call for the extension of a free trade agreement — the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) — which eliminates import tariffs on goods from eligible African nations. The pact expires in 2025, prompting African leaders to seek clarity on future arrangements.
“Most of Kenya’s imports are from China — also one of its biggest bilateral creditors — and Washington has been keen to eat into Beijing’s clout in the region. The East African nation began talks with the United States on a free trade agreement in 2020 but nothing has been signed.
In 2022, the United States exported goods worth $604 million to Kenya while imports totalled $875 million, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.
Meanwhile, according to AFP, “A first batch of Kenyan police is expected to make the 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) journey to the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince this week, despite a fresh court challenge in Nairobi against the deployment.”
“Ruto has defended the undertaking as a ‘mission for humanity’ in the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation, which has suffered from poverty, political instability and natural disasters for decades,” AFP reported. “But a new lawsuit filed last week is seeking to hold Ruto’s government in contempt for ‘blatantly’ ignoring a January court order prohibiting the deployment as unconstitutional and illegal.”
AFP added, “Funding could also prove a stumbling block for the mission, analysts say. The United States is the largest backer of the force, pledging more than $300 million since the Haiti crisis intensified several years ago but other countries have been slow to offer support.
