Visiting United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday confirmed she did not meet Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
She, however, asked the media to direct the questions regarding the matter to the Kenyan government.
“I did not meet CS Kuria. In terms of why I did not meet with him, I would have to refer you to the Kenyan government,” said Ms Tai when asked why she did not meet Mr Kuria and whether her failure to meet him would jeopardise the trade negotiations between the two countries.
“It’s correct that I haven’t met with CS Kuria on this trip. Nevertheless, I have had very robust engagements with other counterparts in the Kenyan government on the Stip (Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership) as well as on the EAC work.”
Ambassador Tai, who has been in the country since Monday to co-lead a meeting of the US-East Africa Community Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa) council, is reported to have expressed her reservations with the conduct of the Trade CS.
Instead, Ms Tai held discussions with Mr Kuria’s counterparts, including East African Community and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands CS Rebbeca Miano and Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua and other senior government officials.
Positive conversation
“Most of yesterday (Tuesday), I spent in meetings with EAC ministers of Trade from the group of EAC countries and I learned a tremendous amount from that engagement,” said Ms Tai.
“I am really gratified that we had a meeting of Tifa, the Trade Investment Framework Agreement council, and I actually think that it was an extremely constructive and positive conversation.”
She went on: “Of course in that engagement, one of the things that I have learned and, more importantly, is that the EAC members have their own very important dynamics in terms of engaging as a region on economic matters. This is really very important for the US to show up as a partner that wants to strengthen regional integration and our partnership with the region and other specific engagements.”
Ms Tai yesterday morning held talks with President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi, where Mr Kuria was conspicuously missing.
Sources close to the State House meeting said President Ruto directed that all trade matters pertaining to US-Stip initiative with Kenya will be handled by former EAC minister Adan Mohamed, who is currently the president’s economic adviser.
It is not clear how Mr Kuria will manoeuvre this decision to lock him out of a trade deal that he has been chairing and driving since his appointment to the Trade docket by President Ruto.
Kenya is pursuing a reciprocal free trade agreement with the US to secure market access benefits enjoyed under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which is an American unilateral trade preference programme for Sub-Saharan African countries.
Ms Tai disclosed that she had firm instructions from President Joe Biden to deepen relationships with Kenya and the African continent at large.
The US government has prioritised the proposed bilateral trade pact with Kenya in its agenda this year, ahead of the September 2025 expiry of the duty- and quota-free deal.
“In terms of my conversations with President Ruto, it was very much focused on my area of expertise—which is trade and economic relationship. We had a robust conversation,” said Ms Tai.
Economic relationship
“President Ruto is very committed to this economic relationship, which is tremendously gratifying, and President Biden has been clear that my instructions, and instructions to the entire Cabinet, is to deepen our partnership with the continent (Africa), and certainly with Kenya.”
Washington expects to “make rapid progress” in negotiating 11 pillars of the proposed US-Stip, which will replace the two-decade-old Agoa.
The US negotiators held the first round of conceptual discussions with the Kenyan team led by Trade PS Alfred K’Ombudo from February 6-10 in Washington, DC.
While responding to a question over Wednesday, July 19, 2023 protests called by Azimio leader Raila Odinga, Ms Tai made it clear that the US supports the democratic tenets of freedom of speech and association and that position won’t change anytime soon.
Ms Tai said she supports the joint statement issued by the US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman and 12 other foreign ambassadors and high commissioners to the country, in which they called for a peaceful dialogue and sobriety to prevail.
“On the demonstrations, let me say this: The freedom of expression and the right to association are core tenets of every democracy. So, I think that is something that I want to be very clear about,” said Ms Tai.
