With less than two weeks to US President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Kenya, the Government and the Opposition are sparring to control his agenda. The ruling Jubilee coalition is accusing the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leaders of trying to take advantage of Obama’s visit to project the government in bad light.

Corruption in Government and the management of the next general election in August 2017, are some of the top issues the two sides differ sharply about. In addition, the place of homosexuality in Kenya seems to be driving a wedge between State House and Deputy President William Ruto. The itinerary of President Obama’s visit for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit has so far remained a tightly guarded secret.

Although it is known that he will arrive in the country on the evening of July 24, it is not yet clear how many days he will be staying before flying to Ethiopia.

 Let's tap into key investment opportunities and promote local products when asked about it, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed said President Obama’s itinerary will be communicated next Friday. “Who said US President Barack Obama’s visit will be for eight hours? It could be for a longer period or even shorter.

Until we receive full itinerary and programme from the US Government, whatever is circulating in the media is hearsay and speculation,” she said. Nonetheless, the Government has launched an early offensive on the Opposition, which it accuses of trying to capitalise on Obama’s visit to portray the Government in bad light.

 “CORD is trying to set an agenda for Obama so that he can lose focus on what he is supposed to do here,” said the Leader of Majority in the National Assembly, Aden Duale. “They want him to talk about IEBC, corruption and such things yet these are things that are handled by independent institutions,” he said. In recent times, the Government and the Opposition have differed sharply over the faltering fight on corruption and over the planned reforms at IEBC

Source: Stardard Media