US Trade Rep Kate Tai declines meeting CS Kuria over foul mouth

The unmetered utterances of Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and Investment (MITI), Mr. Moses Kuria, are starting to bear sour fruits. It has been established that the visiting United States Trade Representative Ms. Katherine Tai has cancelled one scheduled meeting with Moses Kuria and closed the doors on his face to another. The meetings were set to discuss the trade ties between the two countries.

Mr. Moses Kuria has reportedly missed two meetings with the US Trade Rep. One such meeting was expected to take place on Monday July 17th, 2023 at Kuria's Two Rivers office. Ms Tai cancelled the meeting and labelled Moses Kuria an 'extremist' and 'an unwanted host' over his utterances on social media against individuals and institutions.

Ambassador Tai, has been in Kenya since Monday to co-lead a meeting of the US-East Africa Community Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) council.

Moses Kuria, was supposed to attend the TIFA council meeting alongside Ms Rebeca Miano, the CS for East Africa Community and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands but was reportedly locked out after Ambassador Tai expressed her displeasure with Moses Kuria's utterances.

It remains to be seen what outcome Kenya should expect from the relations with the United States while Kenya was not represented by the CS for Industrialisation, Trade and Investment, which is the ministry that should make the biggest contribution in such matters.