Act to boost ties, Kalonzo tells US

• VP in plea for Millennium Challenge Account funds

Americans have been challenged to match their desire for deeper partnership with Kenya with more action, development assistance and trade.

One way they could help Kenya deal with her development challenges was by fast-tracking her application to access the Millennium Challenge Account funds, just like the Bush Administration did for Tanzania, which received more than $700 million from the fund, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said on Monday as he concluded a visit to the US.

On Saturday, the VP announced that Kenya was set to benefit from millions of dollars from Washington through the MCA and increased investment funding through the United States Agency for International Development.

This followed a meeting between him and senior officials of the US State Department led by Mr Donald Yamamoto, the principal deputy assistant secretary.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a bilateral development fund established by the US Government in 2002 and put into operation in January, 2004.

Countries that take part in the MCC are selected competitively through a set of 17 indicators designed to measure their effectiveness in ruling justly, investing in people, and fostering enterprise and entrepreneurship.

The focus of the MCC is to promote economic growth in recipient countries. Emphasis is put on good economic policies.

On Monday, the VP also pressed for the lifting of travel advisories the US has issued to its citizens travelling to Kenya. He said some tourists interpret the advisories to mean Kenya was an unsafe place to visit, yet the reality on the ground is that no tourist has been targeted in Kenya.

Armageddon

Elsewhere, President Barack Obama described the storm that buried Washington and a neighbouring state in snow as “Snow Armageddon”.

Schools, government offices, and businesses closed for two days. Public transport and even private motoring ground to a halt. All flights out of Washington were cancelled as cars on driveways, car parks or wherever were completely buried in the snow.

Mr Musyoka had to forget flying out of the US capital to the Caribbean.