Uhuru’s meeting with Kenyans in New York cancelled

What you need to know:

  • Uncertainty coupled with lack of information over the President’s travel plans played out Wednesday even as some officials at the Kenyan Mission in new York said they were in the dark over the issue.
  • According to the envoy, Mr Kenyatta was scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several heads of state and government ,including Pope Francis, on the sidelines of the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly.

A scheduled meeting between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenyans living in and around New York has been cancelled.

A statement sent to the Nation by an official at the Kenyan Mission in New York on Wednesday afternoon read in part:

"We sincerely regret to inform you that the Diaspora Reception scheduled for 26th September 2015 is hereby cancelled due to unavoidable circumstances. Any inconvenience is greatly regretted."

Uncertainty coupled with lack of information over the President’s travel plans played out Wednesday even as some officials at the Kenyan Mission in new York said they were in the dark over the issue.

BUSIEST FOREIGN TRIP

Initially, President Kenyatta was scheduled to arrive in the US on Wednesday but a source at the New York Chancery told the Nation that the trip had been delayed due to unavoidable circumstances.

“We have unconfirmed reports that he might land here on Friday,” said the source, who did not wish to be named.

State House remained tight-lipped over the issue.

On Tuesday, Kenya’s ambassador to the United Nations described President Kenyatta's scheduled visit as “the busiest foreign trip by the head of state since assuming office in 2013”.

A PRESSING MATTER

According to the envoy, Mr Kenyatta was scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several heads of state and government, including Pope Francis, on the sidelines of the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly.

Last week, a section of the Kenyan community living in the United States appealed to President Kenyatta to postpone his planned trip to the United Nations headquarters in New York and instead "deal with the crisis facing the nation".

A letter addressed to Mr Kenyatta and signed by the the chairman of the US chapter of Kenyans For Kenya (KFK), Mr Peter Makanga, requested the president to send a representative to the UN General Assembly, noting that the teachers' strike was threatening to paralyse the nation.