17 June 2008
Nairobi — Prime Minister Raila Odinga is set to meet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington to brief the top diplomat on the success of the Grand Coalition, aides have said.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga meets grand-daughter Saphie at Heathrow Airport in London. The Prime Minister was on his way to an official visit in Washington DC. Photo/PMPS.
The PM, who is on a three-day visit, is also scheduled to meet top Congressional figures, World Bank officials and the business community.
The last time Mr Odinga met Ms Rice was in February in Nairobi when the country was in the throes of violence that erupted following disputed presidential election results. Senator Barack Obama, however is not on the list of dignitaries Mr Odinga is scheduled to meet.
First time
Peter Ogego, Kenya's ambassador to the United States, told the Nation that an Odinga-Obama meeting is "not on the programme" of official talks that get underway today (Tuesday).
"The visit is very important in that this is the first time a senior official of the Kenyan Government is coming to the US after the formation of the Grand Coalition," Mr Ogego said.
Mr Odinga will tell US officials that "Kenya is back on course and the coalition is working," the ambassador added.
Mr Odinga's visit will focus on efforts to promote US investment in Kenya and to win additional assistance for the country.
Americans will be told that it is again safe to visit Kenya, Mr Ogego said. As a key indicator of a return to normalcy, the US Peace Corps is expected to announce during the visit that its volunteers will soon return to Kenya.
Mr Odinga's round of confirmed appearances begins this morning with a talk at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank.
He is then scheduled to attend a luncheon co-hosted by the Kenya embassy and by the Corporate Council on Africa, which includes most of the US corporations that do business on the continent.
Mr Ogego said the Prime Minister will have a busy schedule which will culminate in the signing of two key agreements.
These are the Kenya/US Open Skies agreement which will be signed on Wednesday and the Kenya/US Peace Corps agreement to be signed on Thursday.
The open skies agreement will involve Kenyan airlines being granted category "A" status by US aviation authorities which will allow Kenyan planes to land in the United States and vice versa.
Ambassador Ogego said that this agreement will allow Kenya to easier sell its trade, tourism, horticulture and agriculture sectors. The Prime Minister will also meet and address Kenyans in the diaspora.
Just before leaving Nairobi, Mr Odinga said constitutional review commissioners will soon be appointed to help finalise the process within one year.
He dismissed fears that because funds were not allocated in this year's budget presented by Finance Minister Amos Kimunya last week, the constitutional review process may come to a halt.
"There is nothing fishy about funds not being allocated in the budget. There is money and in case it is inadequate, a supplementary budget motion will be moved for more funds," he said moments before boarding the plane on Sunday night.
Reports by Kevin J Kelley in Washington, Prime Minister's Press Service in Washington and Kenneth Ogosia in Nairobi.
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