WASHINGTON, Feb 5 – Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka who is in America to launch a publicity campaign on Kenya has called for travel advisories imposed by the United States Government to be lifted.
The VP who met and held discussions with several congressmen at Capitol Hill explained that the existence of the advisories sends the wrong signal that Kenya was unsafe for visitors.
And in order to reach opinion leaders and policy makers in the US, Mr Musyoka granted interviews to senior editors of three of America’s influential publications – the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Foreign Affairs Magazine.
He told Peter Fritsch and Siobhan Gorman senior editors of the Wall Street Journal that Kenya has fully recovered from the post-election violence and was now ready for direct foreign investment inflows.
The VP invited Americans to participate in Public Private Partnership in Kenya especially in infrastructure development.
Mr Musyoka spoke at length to Mr Peter Finn of the Washington Post about the big burden Kenya has had to bear due to the influx of refugees from war torn Somalia.
"The United States ought to assist Kenya to cushion itself against the strain on scarce resources as a result of the presence of refugees in Kenya" the VP told the paper.
In a meeting with Mr Donald Payne a prominent congressman, Mr Musyoka said the United States needed to demonstrate solidarity with Kenya especially because the I998 attack in Nairobi targeted US interests.
" The United States therefore needs to work with Kenya to counter any threat but also lift the advisories in order to not only boost the tourism sector but also to send a strong message of co-operation" said Mr Musyoka.
Congressman Payne who is a member of the congressional committee on foreign relations said Congress recognises Kenya\’s pivotal role in the stability of the East Africa region and the Horn of Africa.
The VP also met California Congressman Ed Royce and Congressman John Boozman.
Mr Musyoka was scheduled to meet senior State Department officials and representative of American investors in Kenya on Friday afternoon.
He will conclude his visit with a presentation at the Centre for Strategic and International studies, headed by Ambassador Michael Belamy.
The paper will focus on the security situation in horn of Africa region as well has the conclusion of constitutional review process and the implementation of Vision 2030.
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