New revelations have emerged on why Kenya was left out when US President Donald Trump made his first contact with Africa since he took office last month.
President Trump on Monday made phone calls to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and South African President Jacob Zuma, a move that raised eyebrows in the Kenyan diplomatic circles on why he had not reached out to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
According to a well-placed source in Washington, President Kenyatta was apparently left out because Kenya had not been in touch with the Trump administration terming it a “failure of Kenyan diplomacy”.
“Nigeria and South Africa have been working this for some time... They’ve been in contact. Kenya hasn’t done that,” the source, who is well versed with the Trump's administration told the Nation.
The source disclosed that Kenya’s Ambassador to US Robinson Njeru Githae had not been in touch with the Trump administration since he had been away from the US for some time now.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Monica Juma, however, downplayed the concerns of Kenyatta being snubbed noting that the calls do not involve Kenya in any way.
According to diplomacy analysts, however, Trump might have opted to only call South Africa and Nigeria, since they are the largest economies on the continent, and have always had pride of place in US policy.
After the calls, the Nigerian presidency disclosed that Trump invited Buhari to visit Washington at a date they would later agree.
Buhari’s team also disclosed that Trump vowed to help Nigeria "in terms of military weapons" to help in fighting radical groups like Boko Haram.
On the other hand, President Zuma's team disclosed that Trump and the South African President affirmed their commitment to "strengthening the already strong bilateral relations between the two countries."
