US Congress Speaker Mike Johnson has been blasted for declining a request that would see President William Ruto address a joint sitting during his visit.
Although some sources said the move comes following an objection by key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Raj Shah who is Johnson’s deputy chief of staff said due to scheduling restraints, they could not accommodate a request for remarks before a joint session.
“Speaker Johnson welcomes President Ruto to the Capitol. We have offered the Kenyan embassy over 90 minutes of engagement including a one-on-one visit and a bipartisan leadership meeting with Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and Committee Chairmen and Ranking members, and a bicameral meeting. Unfortunately, due to scheduling restraints, we could not accommodate a request for remarks before a Joint Session,” Shah said.
Shah said a joint meeting takes up a lot of energy on Capitol Hill forcing chamber to close for hours and it entails a security hassle.
President Ruto would be the first Kenyan leader to address a joint meeting of Congress and the first African leader to do so since Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf spoke in the House chamber in 2006.
But Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) in a statement said Johnson’s decision is not only a direct rebuke of the top two lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee but clear evidence of his failure to recognise the importance of the US-Kenya diplomatic relation.
“Africa and its people helped shape our great nation, allowing it to become the superpower that it is today. Strengthening ties across the continent, including with a key strategic partner, Kenya, is of great importance to our shared economic aspirations and democratic values. The continent deserves the same level of respect given to our partners in other parts of the world,” Neal said in the statement.
Neal who is the US Representative for Massachusetts said the Congress and the Republican leadership have invited Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and President Yoon Suk Yeol to address joint meetings of Congress during their official visits to the United States, and “I see no reason why President William Ruto’s upcoming state visit should be any different.”
Ruto will be in Washington on May 23 to mark the 60th anniversary of U.S.-Kenyan diplomatic relations.
