Mudavadi Defends Ksh271M Hire of Trump Allies to Push Kenya’s Agenda in the U.S.

The government has come out strongly to defend its decision to hire a high-priced American lobbying firm to polish Kenya’s image in Washington, D.C.

In a 17-page press release issued on July 28, officials justified the $2.1 million (Ksh271 million) contract with Continental Strategy LLC, a firm stacked with Donald Trump insiders, as a “standard and legitimate practice” meant to advance national interests.

This defense comes at a sensitive moment. Kenya is scrambling to secure a favorable trade deal with the U.S. before the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) expires in September. At the same time, President William Ruto’s administration is leading an under-equipped multinational security mission in Haiti, which requires steady American financial and diplomatic backing.

Ruto’s government is also balancing a delicate geopolitical act: praising China as a “co-architect of a new world order” while leaning on Washington for trade and security guarantees.

Facing skeptical media coverage at home, the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary insisted that hiring lobbyists is a normal part of global diplomacy. “Such partnerships… are a standard and legitimate practice by governments worldwide,” the statement declared.

Lobbying as Tradition, Not Scandal

The release included a detailed annexe citing 44 occasions since 1964—stretching back to the Jomo Kenyatta era—where Kenya, its agencies, or state-linked entities retained U.S. lobbying and PR firms.

By providing this history, officials framed the current $175,000 (Sh22 million) monthly deal with Continental Strategy not as an outlier but as the latest in a long line of “strategic investment[s] with guaranteed returns.”

According to the government, the firm has been tasked with two urgent goals: to “accelerate conversations” around a post-AGOA trade pact with Washington and to “buttress and broaden support” for Kenya’s role in Haiti.

The statement also stressed that Kenya’s large diaspora community in the United States could gain from the lobbying push, which may create stronger economic protections and opportunities for them.

Transparency and Pragmatism

Officials leaned on U.S. transparency laws to further defend the contract. Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), every lobbying deal must be publicly filed. “Just as one media outlet accessed these records to create its headline story,” the statement said, “so too can any other interested organisations or parties freely obtain these publicly available documents.”

But beyond transparency, the choice of Continental Strategy reveals a calculated political gamble. The firm was founded by Carlos Trujillo, Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States and a surrogate for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

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