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Uhuru to meet Pope, Cameron on visit to US

President Uhuru Kenyatta at a past event. He is set to arrive in the US on September 23, 2015. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  B M J MURIITHI

What you need to know:

  • Mr Kamau said the President is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several other leaders.
  • The Associated Press, Reuters, UN Radio, the Voice of America, the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera America and France 24 are slated to interview President Kenyatta.

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives in New York on Wednesday and is expected to meet Pope Francis and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Kenya’s envoy to the United Nations Macharia Kamau has described President Kenyatta’s trip to the United State as “the busiest foreign visit by the Head of State since assuming office in 2013”.

Mr Kamau said the President is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several other leaders on the sidelines of the 70th session of United Nations General Assembly.

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He said Mr Cameron requested to meet with President Kenyatta.

Speaking to the Nation in his office in New York on Tuesday, Mr Kamau said the President’s itinerary includes addressing the General Assembly twice, on September 25 and September 28.

“The President is one of the few speakers at the plenary on Friday because Kenya co-chaired the working committee which formulated the Post 2015 development agenda on Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs),” he said.

Mr Kamau said several international media organisations have also written to the Kenyan Mission seeking to interview President Kenyatta.

“We have been inundated with requests for media interviews throughout the period of his stay in New York,” said the envoy.

The Associated Press, Reuters, UN Radio, the Voice of America, the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera America and France 24 are slated to interview President Kenyatta.

Besides meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday and the Pope on Friday, the Kenyan leader will also be hosted for dinner by US President Barack Obama. He will be accompanied by First Lady Margaret Kenyatta.

On Saturday, President Kenyatta will join other world leaders at a meeting on peace and international security chaired by President Obama.

“During this trip, the President will mainly focus on (the) post-millennium development agenda, peace and security and Kenya-US relations,” said presidential spokesperson Manoah Esipisu in a press briefing at State House, Nairobi, last week.

President Kenyatta will be accompanied by several government officials, including Cabinet secretaries Amina Mohamed and Joseph Nkaissery.

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