Kenya-Jamaica trade and relationship ties are set to improve during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to the Carribean country.
President Kenyatta and the Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness witnessed a deal signing on Monday that will have the two countries boost their relationship in terms of tourism, sporting activities, cultural heritage as well as framework cooperation on political consultations.
Air transportation was another issue of discussion. As the two leaders suggested, the introduction of direct flights from the East Coast of Africa to Jamaica will help strengthen economic ties between Caribbean countries and the African continent.
“Our national carrier now has scheduled direct flights from Nairobi to New York but we would like to see flights flying from the East Coast to the West Coast of Africa and directly to Jamaica, and through Jamaica to the rest of the Caribbean as a true way of deepening our partnership,” President Kenyatta said.
“We need to deepen our trade because by so doing we also take our people-to-people relations to the next level. Kenya is today one of the largest and one of the most diversified economies on the African continent,” the President added.
The two leaders talked about the strong Kenya-Jamaica ties, dating back to the days of Marcus Garvey.
“Kenya-Jamaica relations are deeply rooted. It is well documented that our first national hero The Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey had a significant influence on Jomo Kenyatta, the first Prime Minister of Kenya and later its first President,” said PM Holness.
“In that context, we also recall the late Dudley Thompson as a Jamaican lawyer and Pan Africanist in East Africa. He was resolute in his staunch defense of Jomo Kenyatta when he was charged with treason by the British colonialist government of the day,” the PM added.
President Uhuru Kenyatta presided over several events in Jamaica as the chief guest including; the 57th Jamaica Independence Day, 67th Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in Clarendon.
Accompanying the president are Cabinet Secretaries Monica Juma (Foreign Affairs), Amina Mohamed (Sports) and Najib Balala (Tourism). The team is expected to jet back after the three-day visit.
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