Uhuru Kenyatta returns from UK to address devolution meet

President Kenyatta is back from UK where he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Senior government officials, led by Deputy President William Ruto and Chief of Defence Forces General Samson Mwathethe, received the president on arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Sunday night.

OCEANS

The president is expected to preside over the opening of the 5th devolution conference in Kakamega on Tuesday.

It was during the summit that Kenya get the chance to host the blue economy conference in November.

The high-profile blue economy summit is billed to be a massive conference similar to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meetings and the UNCTAD summit previously held in Nairobi.

Kenya was chosen to champion the development of ‘blue’ economic growth through the Commonwealth Blue Charter adopted by Commonwealth meeting.

At the summit, Kenya stressed the need to prioritise the protection of oceans, and the need for the world to come up with better mechanisms to use oceans for economic development.

While in the UK, the president took the opportunity to market Kenya by tapping into two hugely popular and robust platforms.

President Kenyatta also held several bilateral meetings to promote Kenya’s agenda of securing investment and bolstering trade.

JOBS

At the Commonwealth summit, President Kenyatta said that Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides an opportunity that would enable Africa to create prosperity and create jobs for its youth.

Trade and investment between Kenya and post-Brexit Britain were also one of the priority issues on President Kenyatta’s agenda during the UK visit.

The UK has been a strong trading and diplomatic partner for Kenya.

At least 220 UK companies worth £2.7 billion operate in Kenya and employ 250,000 Kenyans.