Kenya's strategic bet to flirt with both the Eagle and the Dragon

President William Ruto with Chinese President Xi Jinping during bilateral talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. President Ruto is in China fort the Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. [EDWARD ALUSA/PCS. 3/9/2024]

In the political heat of 2022 polls, one government official wanted Chinese contracts with the Government of Kenya disclosed. China curiously kept quiet, and the disclosure never happened.

The race to State House had anti-Chinese undertones laced with talks of debt diplomacy. Rumours swirled on how Mombasa would be mortgaged like a certain port in Sri Lanka. It never happened. 

One would have thought with Kenya Kwanza (KK) in power, the Chinese influence would start fading. President William Ruto has visited South Korea twice in the last two years without proceeding to China. And he paid a highly publicised visit to White House last year and came home with a promise that a US-led consortium would build an expressway to Mombasa.