US secretary of state Antony Blinken shaking hand with Kenya's President William Ruto. Photo | Courtesy.
President William Ruto meets with U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken in New York. On September 26, 2024, president Ruto and U.S secretary Blinken met for a discussion on future collaborations and diplomatic relationship focused on security, development, and economic partnership.
During their talks, Blinken emphasized Kenya’s leadership role both in Africa and international security majorly through the Multinational Security Support mission (MSSM) in Haiti.
He also applauds Kenya for leading the mission, where 400 Kenyan police were deployed to stabilize the situation of the country which has been unstable since 2021.
“I just want to again thank you for Kenya’s remarkable leadership of the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti. I was in Haiti a couple of weeks ago and saw for myself Kenya’s leadership on the ground. But there and in so many other regional challenges in Africa, Kenya is playing an absolutely essential leadership role,” Blinken said.
The U.S. vowed to support Kenya in peace keeping missions across Africa, with South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) serving as an example. Both leaders expressed interest in strengthening their security partnership.
While noting the progress, Ruto on the other hand stated the need for more equipment and personnel to fully address the security challenges particularly in Haiti posed by gang.They also discussed the CHIPS Act, which focuses on boosting semiconductor manufacturing and technological advancements in the U.S. and its allies.
The discussions were how these collaborations could enhance Kenya’s technological capacity and attract further investments from U.S. companies such as Microsoft. Ruto expressed satisfaction with the progress made in Kenya’s negotiations concerning investments in technology sectors like semiconductors and trade agreements linked to the act.
“It was a historic moment when I came for the state visit, and subsequent to the state visit I think so much is underway with Microsoft, with all the other agreements, with the CHIPS Act, and the discussions around investments and trade, and I’m very happy that we’ve made progress on our negotiations on the strategic trade and investment agreement,” Ruto said.
