Today, May 23, 2024, marks the climax of President Ruto’s State Visit to the United States, as he is set to be hosted for bilateral talks with his host President Joe Biden at the White House, in a very elaborate ceremony. Since his arrival 3 days ago, the president has been following a busy itinerary, attending at least 10 events out of the 20 activities scheduled for him during this visit. Today’s events at the White House, which has housed American presidents and first ladies since 1800, will mark the most important engagement for the president and the people of Kenya during this visit. The closed-door talks and the details thereof to be announced in a press conference by the two leaders at the White House later will help break down the tangible benefits of the president’s visit to Kenyans from a bilateral standpoint. The bilateral engagements today are anchored on strong bilateral levers put together by Ruto’s predecessor, President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018 when Kenya signed a Strategic Partnership with the US, the first such partnership by an African country. Shortly thereafter in 2019, the two countries launched a Bilateral Strategic Dialogue. It is through the Bilateral Strategic Dialogue that Kenya and the US identified issues of common and mutual interest between them based on 5 core pillars, namely Economic Prosperity, Democracy and Civilian Security, Defense, Public Health (Health Cooperation), and Multilateral and Regional Issues. Since then, progress has been made in deepening Kenya-US relations, but not at the speed that Kenya would have wished to ensure that Kenyans are already reaping the benefits envisaged from these 5 areas of cooperation. In particular, the promise of a Free Trade Agreement that would allow Kenyan goods and services to access the US market with minimal barriers to trade and a Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership under the theme of Economic Prosperity are yet to be achieved despite several rounds of negotiations and dialogues that ensued after. Therefore, Kenyans are waiting with bated breath to see whether there will be a white smoke on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on this and other matters. #KenyaUSVisit
