President William Ruto has denied Kenya's involvement following the United States government's decision to deport illegal immigrants to certain African countries.
Speaking during an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Ruto clarified that Kenya had not yet received a request from the US to accept deported illegal immigrants.
Ruto was responding to a question posed by a France 24 journalist who sought to know whether Kenya had been approached despite several African countries entering a deal with the US to receive illegal immigrants.
"US has cut deals with several African countries, Ghana, Rwanda, South Sudan and lately Uganda, to take immigrants deported from the United States. Have you received such a request?” the journalist posed.
Ruto downplayed the question and responded, "We have no such requests," emphasising that no formal approach had been made regarding the matter.
He, however, stated that should his administration receive such a request from the US government, adding that it would be done per the Kenyan Constitution.
According to the Head of State, there must be a legal justification for why Kenya should host foreign immigrants illegally ejected from the US, maintaining that it would not be an automatic process.
"If we were to get a request from the US government, that has to be in line with the Kenyan law," the President reiterated.
This comes a fortnight after the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, approved the decision by the US to take unwanted immigrants to the landlocked East African country.
Museveni's move to accept the offer sparked mixed reactions since Uganda is the country on the continent with the largest refugee population.
However, Uganda placed several conditions on the deal, including the fact that Individuals with criminal records and unaccompanied minors would not be accepted.
“Uganda also prefers that individuals from African countries shall be the ones transferred to Uganda," Uganda's Foreign Affairs Ministry revealed in a press statement.
