On Tuesday evening, President William Ruto and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone conversation where the two leaders discussed several issues affecting Kenya and US ties, days after the appointment of Mr. Massad Boulos as US Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region.
According to President Ruto, they discussed the need for the US government to support the renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which is a comprehensive framework between America and Africa.
”We agreed on the necessity of greater engagement of the US Department of Commerce in the facilitation growth of trade with Africa. I thanked President Donald J. Trump for appointing Mr Massad Boulos as Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region, a move that signals a strong US government commitment to Africa’s regional stability, peace initiatives and resolution of conflicts,” President Ruto’s statement reads in part.
It continued, ”Secretary Rubio and I also discussed the situation in Haiti. He reaffirmed the strong US support for the Kenya-led effort to stabilise Haiti. In this regard, I welcome his support for the effort to secure sustainable UN support for the Multi-National Security Support Mission. On the peace and security situation in our region, Secretary Rubio thanked Kenya for the leadership role it is playing in the search for peace and resolution of conflicts.”
The Head of State further noted, ”In this regard, I briefed him on the Joint Summit of Heads of State of the EAC-SADC on the DRC peace initiative, held on Monday; on Kenya’s role in providing forum for the engagement of diverse Sudanese actors to engage in an effort to restore civilian governance, and also our efforts with other partners including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in engaging the combatants on the need for dialogue and silencing the guns.”
Adding, ”In South Sudan, I updated the Secretary of State of the current situation and the initiatives we are engaged in to encourage the government and opposition to re-engage, de-escalate violence and rededicate themselves to the search for peace.
I also briefed Secretary Rubio on escalating terrorist activities in Somalia and the necessity for our two countries to work together in confronting this threat to our interests as well as to international peace and security.”
