No telling when Obama will visit Kenya, envoy

Kenyans will have to wait for the official announcement from the White House to know when President Obama will be visiting Kenya, US Ambassador Robert Godec has said.

Mr Godec said Tuesday evening that President Obama is currently engaged and will tour Kenya when the time is right.

“President Obama would like to come to Kenya and he has said that before that he would like to come during his time as President. That said, President Obama faces a lot of challenges. There are lots of challenges all over the world that need his attention."

“I have to tell you that any announcement about the visit by the President comes out of the White House. I can’t offer you any assurances or further information one way or the other,” Mr Godec said.

Mr Godec was speaking to Nation FM on the recent US-Africa Summit where more than 45 African leaders were invited to Washington for a meeting with President Obama.

He said the summit offered an opportunity to “advance our relationship” through trade and investment.

Media reports in Kenya had on Monday indicated that President Obama had told President Uhuru Kenyatta he would come visiting when the two met briefly during the Summit.

The US leader ignored Kenya last year when he toured Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania during his Africa tour.

But he did promise at a public meeting in South Africa that he will come to Kenya before his term ends in 2016.

“If in three years and seven months I am not in Kenya, then you can fault me for not following through on my promise,” he told a crowd gathered in Soweto.

At the time, White House argued that the timing ‘was not right’ because President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto had just been elected and that they were ‘working out with issues with the international community.’

Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy are facing charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a US top diplomat for Africa at the time Johnnie Carson had once told Kenyans ‘choices have consequences.’

Was President Kenyatta's invitation to the US-Africa summit an effort to ‘mend’ relations?

“Frankly speaking, there had been a number of exchanges already between the United States and Kenya, at that level. There were always a lot of things going on”

“Our partnership is as strong, 50 years. Are there challenges; are there issues that need to be addressed going forward? Absolutely. But I think it is important we direct our focus on the positives,” the US Ambassador argued.

“After the election and after the Supreme Court decision, President Obama congratulated President Kenyatta after the election. They had spoken on the phone before. They shook hands in South Africa during the death of Nelson Mandela."

Although the US has since lowered its tone on the ICC question, Mr Godec insisted it was ‘important’ for Kenya to honour its international obligations and to prevent the recurrence of the 2008 post-election violence.

“It is very important that what happened in 2007-2008 be dealt with. The problems around the violence that happened then be dealt with, justice be delivered for the victims’ and appropriate steps be taken to deal with that situation. It is fundamental that bridges be built between communities."

"The United States is not a member of the ICC. We are not signatories of the ICC. This is fundamentally an issue for Kenyans first, the people of Kenya and the government of Kenya. Secondly, this is fundamentally an issue for the other signatories of the Rome Statute. International justice and rule of law is very important.”