[SIZE=7]DP Ruto plans trips to US and UK on personal business[/SIZE]
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Deputy President William Ruto is expected to travel to the United States and Britain next week in a 12-day political charm offensive.
The high-profile foreign trip will see Dr Ruto take a break from his presidential campaign to meet government officials, elected leaders, global policy think tanks and Kenyans in the diaspora.
This is the first time the DP will visit the US since he was elected second in command in 2013.
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Deputy President William Ruto.
Yesterday, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they had given the green light for the trip, which they clarified was not official government business.
“The trip is cleared to take place. Although it is not on official government business. It is permission to travel,” said Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau.
The DP is expected to deliver a speech at Georgetown University on the evening of Wednesday, March 2, said a statement from the Carnegie Africa Programme, a non-governmental organisation based in Washington, DC.
[SIZE=6]Future of governance[/SIZE]
The event, where the future of governance and economic development in Kenya, East Africa and the African continent will be discussed, will be chaired by Karen Bass, a US congresswoman who chairs the house foreign affairs sub-committee on Africa, global health and human rights.
“We are honoured to host the Deputy President of Kenya William Ruto and US Congress member Karen Bass for a conversation on politics and policy,” read the brief statement posted on the organisation’s website.
Mr Ken Opalo, a Kenyan who teaches at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, will be the moderator alongside Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Africa Programme director Zainab Usman.
At the Carnegie event, the DP is expected to outline before an audience of American think tank scholars and the media what are likely to be his policies on foreign relations, the war on terror and trade if he wins elections in August.
“He has been invited by the US government to attend a series of events but specifically he will speak and field questions for one and half hours from the American policy analysts in Washington, DC,” said a source, who didn’t want to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the press.
Dr Ruto’s office, it is understood, was also working to see if he could meet with his American counterpart Kamala Harris.
[SIZE=6]Meet Kenyans in US[/SIZE]
He will then meet Kenyans living in the US at the Mt Calvary Baptist Church in Washington on March 4 before he travels to the United Kingdom to deliver a speech at Kings College in London.
The planned US and UK trips, coming less than six months before the August 9 presidential election, is seen as a strategic rebranding move by Dr Ruto to establish crucial backing in the two influential foreign capitals.
The DP also plans to meet Kenyans in the diaspora, a critical segment of the population that could offer massive financial backing, many of whom will be voting for the first time in this year’s elections. Such support can bolster his bid for President and strengthen his international credentials.
On the trip, the DP is expected to be accompanied by Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi and MPs Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Alice Wahome (Kandara) and Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), among other allies and aides.
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Dr Ruto’s foreign trips have been riddled with controversy since he was indicted by the International Criminal Court over charges of crimes against humanity in December 2010. His case was terminated in April 2016.
[SIZE=6]Earlier trip cancelled[/SIZE]
In May 2019, a planned trip by the DP to the United States and Canada was cancelled at the height of rising political tensions and factionalism in the ruling Jubilee coalition.
The trip was planned with a large entourage consisting of top officials from the DP’s office and a host of MPs. It was not approved by State House.
Dr Ruto’s communications secretary David Mugonyi explained that the DP’s 2019 trip had been planned but cancelled because of what he termed “tight scheduling challenges”.
The DP’s foreign tours then coincided with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s.
Dr Ruto was to fly to the US for “various official engagements” and proceed to Canada to speak at the Open Governance Partnership Conference but the trip coincided with the inauguration of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, which President Kenyatta had to attend.
In February 2019, Dr Ruto travelled to the UK and gave a lecture at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House.
[SIZE=6]Influential[/SIZE]
Global superpowers like the US and the UK are influential in determining who becomes President in Africa.
In August last year, Dr Ruto was stopped from flying to neighbouring Uganda in what his supporters claimed was a state-backed campaign to humiliate him.
The DP was set for a private trip to Kampala – the second time in a month – but was blocked by immigration officials at Wilson Airport. He was then made to wait five hours before his flight was cancelled.
After he was stopped from leaving the country, DP Ruto said in a cryptic tweet in Kiswahili, “it’s alright, let’s leave it to God”.
