President Kenyatta has left for the US ahead of his meeting with President Trump at the White House

Deputy President William Ruto and Chief of Defence Forces General Samson Mwathethe led senior government officials in seeing off the President.

During his visit to the US, President Kenyatta will visit the White House at the invitation of the US President with whom the Kenyan Head of State will hold talks on a wide array of subjects among them trade and regional security.

Over the years, Kenya has remained a strategic and key partner of the US in the management of peace and security in Eastern Africa covering the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions where the country is at the core of restoring peace and stability in South Sudan.

In Somalia, the Kenyan armed forces are involved in the fight against the Alshabab terrorist group under AMISOM.

Besides trade and regional security, President Kenyatta and President Trump will discuss ways of strengthening the blossoming Kenya-US relations focusing on the two nations’ shared democratic values and mutual interests.

The Kenyatta-Trump meeting comes at an opportune time for Kenya considering that President Kenyatta is currently involved in implementing programs to bolster trade and investments in the country through his administration’s Big 4 development agenda.

Alongside the strong bilateral bond the country enjoys with the US, Kenya also benefits immensely from various US-sponsored multilateral programs key among them the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which President Kenyatta will seek to renegotiate with President Trump.

The strong bilateral and multilateral relationship between Kenya and the US has over the years supported the country’s efforts towards economic stability and in the provision of security, health, education as well as in the management of the environment, fostering the rule of law, and implementation of democratic governance.

The Kenyatta and Trump meeting is a major boost for Kenya’s tourism and aviation sectors as it happens just weeks before the commencement of direct flights from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to New York in October this year.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amb Monica Juma who is already in the US on Thursday met with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo ahead of the meeting between President Trump and President Kenyatta.