Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma and her Interior counterpart Fred Matiang’i arrived in Washington DC on Monday night for the inaugural Bilateral Strategic Dialogue between Kenya and the US.
The Kenyan delegation also includes high level government officials from the Ministries of Defence, Interior, Trade and Foreign Affairs.
The Bilateral Strategic Dialogue is a structured mechanism agreed upon by President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Donald Trump during the State visit to Washington DC in August 2018.
To be held biannually, the BSD will review progress in the implementation of agreed areas of cooperation, explore new areas of engagement and modalities for strengthening the growing diverse bilateral relations between Kenya and the US.
This inaugural BSG will take place between Tuesday and Wednesday, and will focus on the following four pillars: Economic Prosperity, Trade & Investment; Defence Cooperation; Democracy & Governance; and Regional and Multilateral Issues.
Juma thanked the US Government for convening this first session of the BSD.
“I wish from the onset to commend the Government of the United States of America for hosting the inaugural meeting of the Bilateral Strategic Dialogue. This is a clear demonstration of its commitment to our strategic partnership. The Kenyan delegation looks forward to productive engagements in the light of the very successful preparatory sessions that have taken place so far,” she said.
The CS started her meetings with David Trachtenberg, Deputy Undersecretary for Policy, U.S Department of Defence. She held talks with with the Pentagon’s policy team.
Both teams lauded the excellent relations between the two countries and reaffirmed commitment to continue strengthening this relationship with the framework of the BSD.
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The CS was accompanied by Lt Gen Aden Mulata, who was promoted on Monday and named the commandant, National Defence College and Ambassador Robinson Githae, among other senior officers.
