Distinguished guests , the Vice
President of the United States and Mr
Emhoff , the Secretary of State of the
United States and Miss Ryan ,
accompanied by the president of the
Republic of Kenya and her Excellency
Rachel .
Thank you . Good afternoon . Please
have a seat and welcome to the State
Department President
Ruto First Lady .
It is an honor to welcome you here to
the State Department . Uh Evan and I
are so delighted to host this lunch
with Vice President Harris Second
Gentleman , I Hoff uh madam vice
President , we know your leadership in
this administration , the American
people know your leadership in this
country . I can attest to your
leadership around the world as a
powerful force for American diplomacy .
And it is always a great pleasure to be
with you and to work with you . Thank
you .
We're so grateful today to be joined by
representatives of other nations
partners from across Kenya and the
United States colleagues from Congress ,
particularly the congressional black
caucus . Thank you for being here with
us today .
And I'd also like to start by thanking
everyone who's made this wonderful meal
possible , including Margaret Nyam
Mundo , who's an entrepreneur whose
coffee uh export business is helping
women farmers in Kenya and also
delivering extraordinary coffee which
may come in handy at some point during
this toast if you need a
thank you father .
So as some of you have heard over the
last few days , this year , the United
States and Kenya are celebrating a
milestone six decades ago and just a
few months after Kenya won its
independence , our two countries
formally established diplomatic
relations . Yet our people
have already forged deep ties in one
another . Many Kenyans and Americans
saw reflections of their own history ,
their own fights for freedom and self
determination . And that's what brought
two young men together in the 19
fifties . In 1956 Tom and boy , a
rising political leader in Kenya came
here to the United States . He was on a
speaking tour about his nation's
struggle for independence . Backstage
at an event in New York , he met Bill
Scheinman , a young American
entrepreneur who supported his cause .
They hit it off immediately . They
decided to continue their conversation
at a restaurant and they ended up
talking all night . Mboya shared his
efforts to assist rising Kenyan leaders
who are going to college . Simon wanted
to help in the coming years . They
started a foundation to support Kenyan
studying in the United States . The
group identified outstanding students ,
they rallied donations , they chartered
flights to bring them to , to us
colleges and us universities .
Eventually , Mboya convinced a young
American senator by the name of John F .
Kennedy to provide support . Soon this
program became known as the Kennedy
airlifts . This initiative brought
hundreds of Kenyans and other East
Africans to the United States . Over
the years , many became trailblazers in
medicine , academia , civil society
government . The media a number worked
alongside him . Boa , one of Kenya's
founding fathers and Boy and Shimon
themselves became friends for life and
Boyle was the best man at Simon's
wedding . Years later when Simon died ,
he was buried in Kenya next to Mboya .
President . Rude . You once said that
nations are driven forward and changed
by individuals , ordinary men and women
who believe that they can make a
difference and can change the status
quo . And boy and Simon shared that
belief and acted on it . So
does President Rutto his own story
rising from a kid who went to school
barefoot until he was 15 years old ,
earn money selling chickens by the side
of the road to become president of his
country is a testament to that very
idea . And Mr President , I
think and hope that you felt these past
few days , the gratitude that we have
for our partnership and for your
leadership . Ben Franklin looks down
upon us , our first diplomat . Uh and
he was known for his aphorisms . One of
them , many of us know is well done is
better than well said . Anyone who has
the benefit of working with and
listening to President Ruto knows that
he excels at both countless other
Kenyans and Americans have also
dedicated themselves to doing their
part . And for generations , our people
have continued to collaborate to
advance our shared values . Our hopes ,
our visions for the future . Today ,
our countries are working together to
grow inclusive economic opportunity to
shape cutting edge technology in
Silicon Valley and the Silicon Savannah .
We're supporting the transition to
clean energy , improving our capacity
to prevent , to detect , to treat
infectious disease . We're working on
counterterrorism to resolve conflicts
to help restore stability to some of
the most insecure places including
Haiti . These are areas where President
Rutto has demonstrated critical
personal leadership , not just in the
region but around the world . Our
citizens , our communities , our civil
societies are also working every day to
strengthen our democracies to bring
ourselves a little bit closer to the
free open just and equitable societies
that we both aspire to be long after
the airlifts , we continue to grow the
ties between our countries and between
our people . Earlier this week ,
President Rutto and President Biden
announced a new educational exchange
program focused on stem named after the
Kennedy and Boyer partnership . When
Kenyans and Americans collaborate ,
they're not just leading on the issues
that matter to our people . They're
leading on issues that matter to people
everywhere . That's the story of
Octavia Carbon . Its team of Kenyan
engineers , scientists , climate change ,
experts are building machines that pull
carbon out of the atmosphere . Their
goal is to become the first carbon
removal company , excuse me in Africa
to lower the cost of this critical
technology . The Octavia team started
working from a kitchen table now
they've created a machine that can
absorb as much carbon in a year as 2000
trees . When that technology is ready
to deploy Octavia Carbon will team up
with the US company to store all of the
extracted co two in the ground and
together it'll help make our shared
planet more sustainable for generations
to come . I'm told that in the Octavia
Carbon Warehouse , the place where
they're actually building and testing
these prototypes . Right now . There's
a mural and it's got two portraits on
it . One depicts the company's namesake ,
the great black American writer Octavia
Butler , whose science fiction stories
challenge readers around the world to
imagine a different future for our
societies . The other portrait is of
one of the greatest marathon runners of
all time . The great Kenyan athlete Elh
Kogi who once said that he lives for
moments when he gets to challenge the
limits . That's the spirit that
animated Tom and Boyer Bill Shinan more
than 60 years ago , they challenge the
limits of their time and pressing for
more free , more just societies in both
of our countries . It's the same spirit
that unites Kenyans and Americans today .
The determination , the creativity ,
the audacity to chart a path
beyond what we believe is possible to
not only imagine a better world and to
make it and to make it together . So
please join me in a toast .
Thank you to every limit
that our people have already surpassed ,
to the limits that we will exceed
together . Yeah . Sure .
And now it's my great honor to present
to you the vice president of the United
States .
Good afternoon , everyone . Good
afternoon . I I will start , of course
by thanking our extraordinary secretary
Blinken . Um You have been traveling
the world at record pace um that you
are standing still at this moment is an
extraordinary feat given all you do and
it's the Kenyon coffee , but on behalf
of our country , I thank you , Tony
Blanken for all that you are . Thank
you . Um Thank you
and the second gentleman and I are
honored to host this luncheon with you
and Miss Evan Ryan and to welcome
President Ruto and Mrs Ruto and to
all of our distinguished guests ,
members of congress leaders in every
sector of our society . Welcome . And
thank you for your work and the
partnership . So I strongly believe
that African ideas and innovations will
have a significant impact on the future
of the entire world . A belief
driven in part by the extraordinary
creativity , dynamism and energy
of young African leaders on a continent
where many of you may know the median
age is 19 on a
continent where one in four people who
occupy space on Mother Earth will be
by the year 2050
and fueled then by that sense of
optimism . Last year , I had the good
pleasure of visiting the continent for
a week long trip . And it turns out
it's the longest I've spent on foreign
soil since I've been vice president .
The goal of the trip . Thank you . The
goal of the trip was to highlight and
strengthen our partnerships in
government , in business and in the
civil society to increase private
sector investment , to revise , to
revise and upgrade the
US Africa narrative , which is
long overdue and to bring fresh focus
to the innovation and ingenuity that is
so prevalent across the continent of
Africa . There at an incubator , I met
with tech entrepreneurs who are taking
small businesses online and
strengthening supply chains . I
convened young musicians and artists
whose afrobeats are influencing music
around the globe .
I visited with climate activists ,
farmers , women , small business owners
and students . And at the end of that
trip , I was more convinced than
ever . The continent of Africa
represents the future of our world
and I will add any leader that ignores
the continent of Africa is doing so at
their own peril , which brings me to
Kenya Mr President . No country on the
continent . More embodies this spirit
of innovation than Kenya . Kenya as
many here know has Silicon Savannah ,
a $1 billion technology ecosystem
confronting challenges that range from
the climate crisis to financial
inclusion to health care , to address
wealth inequity , innovators at MP S A
help low income , people pay and repay
micro loans and they have
revolutionized the mobile payments
industry to help solve the problem and
challenge of pollution coming from
plastics and to address threats to
marine ecosystems . A Kenyan start up
now converts aquatic invasive plants
into biodegradable plastic to
tackle water security and in particular
scarcity and drought . A Kenyan start
up now turns humidity from the air
into clean drinking water to
help his deaf niece communicate . A
Kenyan data scientist invented a
smart glove to convert sign language
into audible speech through a mobile
app and to
and to make health care more accessible
and affordable A I is now being used
for medical image scans and chatbots
are providing healthcare advice .
President Rutte innovation has
flourished under your leadership . You
and I just left a fireside chat at the
US Chamber of Commerce . Your
leadership has been extraordinary and
as I shared with you with our
ambassador Whitman , you really as a
leader symbolize the importance of the
partnership between the United States
and the continent . You ran Mr
President on a platform of promoting
entrepreneurship and strengthening your
economy . You have spoken powerfully
about the need to bridge the digital
divide and that innovation will
drive economic growth , your work .
And this visit reinforces the point
that African ideas and African
innovation will help shape the future
of the world . The partnership between
the United States and Kenya is grounded
in shared values and a shared vision
for the future . We are grateful Mr
President for your commitment to
democracy . Your commitment to take
bold action on the climate crisis ,
your commitment to broad-based economic
growth and your commitment to support
global security and stability . Most
recently , through Kenya's leadership
to help stabilize Haiti , the fates of
the American people and the Kenyan
people are intertwined . Secretary
Blinken just spoke about Tom and Boyer
and the airlift . I will add in
1959 when Mboya was in the United
States gathering support for the
airlift . He joined in a march with
American civil rights activists just
blocks from here , just blocks from
here . He spoke about our shared
struggle for political freedom ,
economic opportunity and human dignity .
And these 65 years later , I stand
proud to acknowledge your leadership ,
Mr President of these same principles .
Later on that trip in Boyo was
invited to Atlanta . I see the former
mayor here by Doctor Martin Luther King
Junior there as they stood together .
Doctor King said , and I quote , our
struggle is not an isolated struggle .
We are all he said caught in an
inescapable network of
mutuality . So to you , President Ruto
just as it was then and even more . So
today , our people are interconnected
and interdependent and so I will raise
a glass and ask all to join
to the U Ss Kenya Partnership and in
celebration of our network of
mutuality . Mr President cheers
here
and now I invite President Rutte to
share a toast . Thank you ,
madam , Vice President Secretary
Blinken , distinguished ladies and
gentlemen . Good afternoon .
It gives me tremendous pleasure to come
back to this great building . I was
here two years ago and
today in my state visit to the
United States , we meet again
to celebrate 60 years of relationship
between two friendly nations ,
the United States and Kenya .
Our relationship based on a farm
foundation of the values we share and
believe in values of
freedom , democracy , rule of law ,
inclusivity and equality .
They were
as present and meaningful
many years ago . They are so today .
And as I come to the conclusion of this
dead visit , I am persuaded
beyond any doubt
that the relationship between the
United States and Kenya and Africa
is now on to a new pedestal .
I thank President Biden in a very
special way for helping us
reshape reengineer and
write a new narrative for our
continent . We all believe
in a Nigerian
proverb that says
until the lion learned to write
all stories , favored the
hunter .
We have decided that we are going to
write our own story and we
and we started this last year when I
convened the first ever Africa Climate
Summit . The conversation , the
narrative has always been this
continent of conflict , trouble ,
disease , poverty , yet
that is not the story of Africa .
Africa is a continent of
tremendous opportunity .
The largest reserves of energy ,
renewable energy resources ,
60% of the world's arable and
cultivated land , 30% of
mineral wealth , global mineral wealth ,
including those that are necessary for
energy transition , the youngest
continent which will produce 40%
of the world's working or workforce by
2050 where a quarter of the world's
population will be living ,
providing the world's biggest single
market in short ,
Africa is a rich continent and a
continent of opportunity .
I am very happy that President Biden
and this visit is giving us the
opportunity to rewrite
and recalibrate the relationship
between this great superpower
and our continent . And I am
very proud that among the things we
have agreed and not just about Kenya
and the us , it's about Kenya and the
continent of Africa from what we are
doing around climate action , what we
are doing around the financial
architecture of the world to make it
fairer , to make it much more sensitive ,
to make it much more agile and to make
it possible for many African countries
and those in the global south , many
developing countries to access
concessional resources for us to manage
their affairs of our people . And that
no country will spend more money on
paying debt or
on managing climate induced crisis
than they do on spending on health
education or social service .
I must commend the leadership of the
United States President Biden
and the many other leaders I met at the
hill , including the Black Caucus ,
including the leadership , the joint
leadership of the House and the Senate
and all of them shared the same
views with us that it's
time for a new relationship to build
a new relationship between our
continent and the United States . As we
encourage the United States to take
leadership on making sure that
together we can have a freer ,
a safer , a healthier and a
much more prosperous uh globe for
all of us . Finally ,
we discussed many issues that today
I find will give us
new opportunities , will open new
frontiers and will enlarge the horizon
for collaboration in making sure that
we deal with the challenges that we all
face of insecurity of stability ,
challenges of debt and
other financial challenges , but also
give ourselves the opportunity to
explore the tremendous
opportunities that exist for
collaboration in a in
exploiting our huge
reserves and assets using
our human capital and connecting
assets that we have in our continent
to technologies from the US to
financial results from the US and
creating a win win outcome that works
for the US , works for Kenya
and works globally for all humanity . I
think
let me request you to raise our glasses
as I propose a toast
to the long lasting relationship ,
the good health , prosperous
engagement ,
stability and prosperity for the
people of the United States and the
people of Kenya . Cheers .
So thank
you . Thank you . Thank you , my dear .
Thank you , you .
Yeah .