US envoy dismisses misadvise claims

• Relationship between Kenya and the US remains one of the biggest partnerships in Africa, says Ranneberger.

US ambassador Michael Ranneberger has dismissed claims that he is misleading Washington over the situation in Kenya.

“That would be a hard thing to do as President Obama knows the country better than I do,” Mr Ranneberger told a press conference at the Kisumu Airport on Wednesday.

The envoy described his recent meeting with Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula as 'very constructive and productive’.

He, however, declined to divulge what was discussed during the meeting after he was summoned over letters that were written to 15 government officials threatening them with travel bans for not supporting reforms.

“That was part of private diplomatic dialogue,” Mr Ranneberger said adding that he had frequent meetings with the ministry officials.

Restating that the threat to ban the visas of the 15 government officials still stood and was 'part of US policy’, the ambassador said that their identities would not be revealed as yet.

“The reason why we are keeping the names private is because we are still having positive exchanges with some of the people concerned and cannot reveal them,” he said.

“This decision has not been made yet and it is still too early to talk about it as this will be decided by Washington.”

He said that the relationship between Kenya and the US remains one of the biggest partnerships in Africa, and was so even before President Obama ascended to power.

Later, the envoy held a baraza at the Kisumu polytechnic where he answered questions from students of tertiary institutions in Kisumu.

He said that the letters written by his government did not imply that the leaders were blacklisted.

“The letters were a polite way of asking for their support in reforms,” he said.

He told the students that the country’s future economic prosperity that would lead to creation of job opportunities was linked to stability, hence his country’s insistence on reforms.

“That is why I keep on talking about the reform agenda because it is crucial welfare to all,” Mr Ranneberger said.

He added that the US was pushing for reforms because the Coalition Government had signed a reform agenda that had to be implemented and not to maintain the status quo.

“Even as we speak, change is happening. Change can happen more rapidly than anyone thinks but only with the right push and support from citizens,” he said.