Moses Kuria is the Most Traveled Cabinet Secretary in President Ruto’s Gov’t

Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has emerged as the most traveled minister in President Ruto’s administration.

Business Daily reports that Kuria, a former MP for Gatundu South, made at least 18 foreign trips in the first 100 days since Ruto assumed office. 

In February alone, he has visited 10 different countries and met at least 10 sitting presidents as well as former Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete.

Kuria also appears to be President Ruto’s favorite cabinet secretary, having accompanied him on all his trips abroad. 

“In all these tours, I was not sending myself. I was appointed a special envoy by President William Ruto to talk to our neighbors and try to re-establish our leadership in the region and to push through agreements of strategic value to Kenya,” Kuria told Business Daily.

Kuria accompanied Ruto to South Korea, to New York for the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, and to Addis Ababa for the just-concluded African Union Summit. 

It emerged that Kuria has made more foreign trips than his Foreign and Diaspora Affairs counterpart Alfred Mutua, who has been out on 15 occasions visiting the US, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and Algeria, among other countries. 

“Issues of investment, trade and foreign affairs are conjoined twins. You cannot do one and leave [out] the other. Our primary foreign interest is the economy, business and trade. My missions are not about diplomacy but purely trade and business which is my forte,” Kuria adds.

Kuria expressed confidence that Kenya is on course to assert its economic might on the continent despite Angola and Ethiopia recently overtaking it as the third-largest economy in sub-Sahara Africa.

“I am satisfied that investor confidence is coming back. There is a lot of optimism.”

In October, Kuria was in Pretoria, South Africa at the Kenya-South Africa Chamber of Commerce where he also met his South African counterpart Patel Ebrahim. 

He later visited Arusha, Tanzania to attend the 41st Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment before flying to Zambia to attend the 43rd Comesa Council of Ministers.

He has also been to Washington DC, to meet with “major retailers” and to the United Arab Emirates to “exchange valuable ideas of interconnecting logistics” between the two countries. 

In January, he jetted to Kampala, Uganda to deliver a “special message” to Yoweri Museveni from President Ruto.