President Barack Obama will — finally — visit Kenya in July, becoming the first sitting American President to do so.
He will be in Kenya to attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be co-hosted by Kenya and the United States.
State
House spokesman Manoah Esipisu on Monday made the announcement just
moments after the White House confirmed the visit, which is entirely
tied to the annual global event that has been running since 2009.
President Obama’s father is Kenyan and he has many relatives in the country.
The
announcement was greeted with some excitement not just in Nyanza, the
ancestral home of Barrack Obama Senior, the President’s father, but in
all parts of the country.
President Kenyatta’s administration is in the thick of a crackdown on rampant corruption in the government.
Mr
Kenyatta has suspended just under a third of his Cabinet after they
were named in a secret dossier by the anti-corruption authorities.
A
case previously seen as an international eyesore, which President
Kenyatta faced at the International Criminal Court, has been terminated.
It will be the fourth time President Obama, who has avoided Kenya during his previous visits, will be in a sub-Saharan country.
Mr
Esipisu, who was accompanied by the Kenyan Ambassador to the US, Mr
Robinson Githae and US ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec, said that
President Obama’s visit is the result of an invitation President
Kenyatta extended to the US leader during the US-Africa Summit in
Washington last year.
Said Mr Esipisu: “The White House
has confirmed that President Obama will visit Kenya to attend this
year’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) which will be held in
Nairobi.”
'GOOD AND POSITIVE'
Cord leader Raila Odinga welcomed the decision by Mr Obama to attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi.
“It
is great because he is coming to the home of his ancestry. This is good
and positive. However, I wish he came for an official visit before the
end of his term for at least two days,” said Mr Odinga.
“He has made official visits to Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana. We would be more glad if he visited officially.”
The
US previously isolated Kenya from its plans due to various governance
issues said to have been in conflict with various US policies, including
corruption and human rights concerns during the former President Moi
and President Kibaki’s regimes.
The American
ambassador, for his part, enumerated the importance of the Obama visit
to the country, saying it will be the first time by an American
president.
“President Obama will travel to Kenya in
July, where he will hold bilateral meetings and will participate in the
Global Entrepreneurship Summit. His visit will build on the success of
the August, 2014 US summit,” said Mr Godec.
The US
diplomat said Kenya will also become the first country in sub-Saharan
Africa to host the summit, which will bring together several leaders and
entrepreneurs from around the world.
“His visit will
build on the success of the August, 2014 US-Africa Leaders Summit and
will continue our efforts to work with countries in sub-Saharan Africa,
including Kenya, to accelerate economic growth, strengthen democratic
institutions, and improve security,” said Mr Godec.
Organised
annually since 2009, the GES has emerged as a global platform
connecting emerging entrepreneurs with leaders from business,
international organisations, and governments looking to support them.
Earlier
in Washington, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest officially
announced Obama’s visit which he said would be a move to accelerate
growth, security and strengthen democracy in the region.
It
was not immediately clear whether the visit, expected between July 24
and 26 would include stopovers by the world’s most powerful leader in
other regional countries.
Kenya’s closest neighbours, Tanzania and Uganda, have several times hosted US Presidents.
Last year President Obama was in South Africa for the burial of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
In 2013 he visited Tanzania in a trip that also included Senegal and South Africa. He previously toured Egypt and Ghana.
Last
year’s summit was held in Marrakech, Morocco that saw nearly 4,000
entrepreneurs and business, government, and thought leaders attend.
Visiting
alongside the US president will be some of America’s top entrepreneurs
as well as the US Secretary of Commerce Ms Penny Pritzker, among others
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