U.S. President Joe Biden hosted his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, in Washington on Thursday. Uhuru Kenyatta is the first African leader to meet with Biden at the White House since he became president.
President Joe Biden and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta discussed transparency and accountability to domestic and international financial systems and advance peaceful resolutions to the conflicts in Somalia and Ethiopia. The two leaders also discussed their shared commitment to defending democracy and human rights, advancing regional peace and security and accelerating economic prosperity.
The White House said in a statement following the meeting that the leaders “underscored the need to bring additional transparency and accountability to domestic and international financial systems.”
“Our nations share a deep commitment to fairness and to respect and equity,” Biden said. “And I’m committed to further elevating our ties with Kenya and nations across Africa as a whole. But Kenya is key to this.”
Biden announced at the start of his meeting with Kenyatta that the U.S. will donate 17 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine to the African Union. Africa lags behind much of the world in vaccinations: Only nine African countries met the World Health Organization’s goal of vaccinating at least 10% of the population by the end of September.
Kenyatta thanked Biden for helping Kenya and other African countries access the vaccine, and said further assistance from the international community would be “greatly welcomed.”
The United States is looking to Kenya, long an ally on counterterrorism efforts in East Africa, to help wind down the conflict in neighboring Ethiopia that has left the area gripped by human-made famine. Biden has threatened to impose sanctions against Ethiopian officials and others involved in the conflict if the fighting doesn’t wind down soon.
