In a surprising diplomatic twist, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revealed plans to visit Kenya in the near future, just weeks after abruptly cancelling a previously scheduled trip to Nairobi.
The announcement followed high-level talks with Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi in Washington, DC, where the two leaders discussed a range of critical issues including regional peace, trade, and security cooperation.
“In Washington, DC, I held a high-level meeting with the US Secretary of State, Senator Rubio, where we discussed regional peace and security, expanded trade and investment and deepened diplomatic engagement,” Mudavadi confirmed in a statement released Thursday.
“He expressed keen interest in visiting Kenya to further strengthen our strategic partnership,” he added.
Rubio was initially slated to touch down in Nairobi on April 28 during his first diplomatic tour of Africa since President Donald Trump’s return to office in January. However, the visit was scrapped at the last minute without an official explanation, stirring speculation across diplomatic circles.
Unofficial reports cited President William Ruto’s concurrent visit to China and Nairobi’s increasingly warm ties with Beijing as potential reasons behind the cancellation. Others pointed to rising corruption scandals among senior Kenyan officials and the country’s contentious engagements with rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.
Rubio’s renewed commitment to visiting Kenya signals a potential recalibration in US-Africa relations and could revive the stalled Kenya-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as well as breathe life into key US-funded development programs.
“This visit, if it materializes, would be a diplomatic milestone,” noted Dr. Sylvia Wekesa, a political analyst at the Kenya Institute of International Affairs. “Rubio coming to Nairobi would not just be symbolic — it would send a strong message about the future of Kenya-US ties in the Trump era.”
Security cooperation is also likely to feature prominently in Rubio’s visit, with the US continuing to play a pivotal role in counterterrorism efforts in Kenya and the East African region. Washington is also closely monitoring the conflict in the DRC, where Kenya is a leading mediator.
Mudavadi’s current trip to Washington marks the first top-level engagement between the two countries since Trump’s return to the White House. Kenyan officials are hopeful it will restore momentum to longstanding bilateral commitments that had slowed amid shifting global alliances.
While no official date has been confirmed, insiders suggest Rubio could land in Nairobi before the end of June, signaling a potentially transformative chapter in Kenya-US relations.
As diplomatic chess pieces move on the global board, all eyes are now on whether Washington’s top diplomat will follow through on his promise — and what that could mean for Kenya’s place in the world.
