Kenyans Frustrated With Their Government Celebrate Trump’s Win

Seven months after Kenya’s President William Ruto was hosted by President Joe Biden at the White House in a historic state visit, Donald Trump’s election victory sparked celebrations among opposition activists.

Kenyans concerned over the perceived US backing of Ruto’s administration and some of its more unpopular economic policies are hoping for a reevaluation of US support under Trump.

For a start, they’re calling for the removal of the Biden-appointed US ambassador to Kenya, former HP and eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who played a central role in the elevation of Kenya’s relationship with the US to non-NATO ally status in May. She has also led a push to attract investment by US tech firms to Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy.

Calls for her removal were widely shared across social media, trending on platforms including X soon after it became apparent that Trump was headed for victory. Whitman — and by extension Washington’s — relationship with Ruto has long been seen as a problem in some quarters. Critics range from opposition activists in Kenya to officials in Washington.

Ruto’s popularity took a hit in the months following the US state visit due to massive youth-led nationwide protests against proposed tax hikes and corruption as well as police abductions and killings of protesters. A survey published by research company InfoTrak in October said 73% of Kenyans thought the country “was headed in the wrong direction,” with corruption and police abductions among Kenyans’ top concerns.

Ruto congratulated Trump on Thursday for his win, writing that he looked forward to “deepening our collaboration under your leadership as we work together to address global challenges”.

Whitman faced a backlash last Thursday after the US failed to appear among signatories of a joint statement by Western envoys condemning a reported increase in abductions and enforced disappearances in the country, having previously signed similar statements alongside European counterparts. Police in the country have denied involvement in abductions.

“If President Donald Trump’s return to the White House brings an end to Meg Whitman’s ambassadorial tenure in Nairobi, then we as Kenyans have something to celebrate,” veteran lawyer and human rights activist Gitobu Imanyara wrote on X, referencing the abductions.

As Kamala Harris perhaps realized a little too late, in 2024 the Joe Biden hug can be damaging for political ambition. The optics of Ruto’s association with Biden — capped by the first state visit by an African leader in 15 years and Whitman’s perceived closeness to the Kenyan president — has helped fuel disaffection against the government.

Critics of Washington’s approach see the US as an enabler of harmful government decisions in Kenya.

However, Caroline Wandiri, an international relations professor at the Nairobi-based Kenyatta University, told me Whitman’s future would ultimately not be determined by Kenyans’ complaints, but by whether she was aligned with Trump’s vision for the US and its interests around the world. Even though Whitman was appointed by a Democratic president, she has previously run as a Republican for the governorship of California.

Kenya has increasingly been seen as a key geopolitical partner for the US on the continent amid waning US influence in West Africa, along with increasing Russian and Chinese presence.

“If he feels that she (Whitman) or any other person is not representing the United States’ interests very well, or if he’d want someone to confide with or get along with easily, there’s no reason not to make a change,” Wandiri said. “That would not be strange.”