Raila may not meet Obama face-to-face
Prime Minister Raila Odinga and former US president Bill Clinton at the Sheraton Hotel in New York on Tuesday. Mr Clinton pledged to mobilise funds through his Clinton Foundation to increase Kenya’s forest cover from 1.7 per cent to 10 per cent. Mr Odinga is in New York for the 64th UN General Assembly. Photo/PMPS
Prime Minister Raila Odinga and United States President Barack Obama will attend two meetings together in New York, but are unlikely to meet face-to-face.
US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said Mr Odinga would not attend a luncheon hosted by Mr Obama for African leaders, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly.
Kenya thus missed out on an opportunity to join in discussions with the leader of the world’s super power on job creation, especially for young people.
Trade and investment
The leaders were also to discuss the creation of a more conducive climate for trade and investment and ways to mobilise African agriculture to create jobs and help feed the continent.
On Tuesday, Mr Ranneberger termed the confusion surrounding Mr Odinga’s and Mr Obama’s meeting as a “technical mix-up” that led to the Kenyan leader being invited for the luncheon initially. He noted that the meeting was meant for African heads of State only.
The PM’s director of communications, Mr Dennis Onyango, said the luncheon was never in Mr Odinga’s diary.
