Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has once again raised eyebrows by missing another crucial United States-Kenya trade event, adding to concerns about his absence from such engagements.
This isn’t the first instance of the outspoken CS skipping a significant trade event. On July 19, Kuria was notably absent from trade discussions between Kenya and the US, where Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative, led a delegation from the North American nation.
On Thursday, former Trade CS Adan Mohamed, now serving as an Economic Advisor to President William Ruto, posted a picture of himself leading a Kenyan trade delegation in the US. American Ambassador Meg Whitman was also present.
He stated, “Leading the Kenya Delegation to the US-Africa Trade & Investment Roundtable in Chicago, USA.”
Despite actively engaging foreign nations and firms in trade negotiations since taking office as CS, often announcing them on his social media platforms, Kuria has conspicuously been missing from US-led discussions. The government has not provided an explanation for this absence.
Kuria’s latest setback comes shortly after an embarrassing moment on live television, where he made contradictory remarks regarding cooking oil prices.
During an interview on Citizen TV, he disputed a presentation showing the prices of cooking oil, claiming that the listed prices were inaccurate.
The presentation compared cooking oil prices in September 2022 with those in September of the current year, indicating a decrease to Ksh340 per liter from Ksh450 per liter in 2022.
However, Kuria asserted that the prices were even lower, stating that President William Ruto’s administration had reduced them by 50%, bringing them down to Ksh240 per liter.
Upon verification from a local supermarket, it was revealed that the prices were not as low as the CS had claimed. Different brands of cooking oil were selling at varying prices per liter, with some priced at Ksh355, others at Ksh347, and still others at Ksh325 and Ksh307.
