Meg Whitman Speaks On Demand To Quit Kenya Job After Trump Win

The United States Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, on Thursday, November 7 responded to calls by Kenyans online to resign after Donald Trump was elected the 47th President of the United States (POTUS) in the 2024 elections.

In a statement obtained and verified by Viral Tea, Whitman reiterated that she currently serves at the request of the US president like any other ambassador. 

With Joe Biden set to leave office to pave the way for Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025, Whitman underscored that she and her team would continue with their work as required. 

"Like all U.S. ambassadors, I serve at the request of the President. The American people have spoken, and a new President will be inaugurated in January," she moved to tone down demands for her to be recalled, adding "Meanwhile, my team and I continue to work on advancing our nations' shared goals of increased prosperity, security, and respect for democratic values."

Whitman highlighted the strong relationship between Kenya and the US, adding that it will only grow stronger, even with the new leadership in place.

US President-elect, Donald Trump. /ASSOCIATED PRESS

"The relationship between the United States and Kenya has matured over the past 60 years and has enjoyed the support of a wide spectrum of political leaders in both Washington and Nairobi. Our relations have never been stronger and I am confident this trajectory will continue," she expressed.

Following Donald Trump’s win in the US elections, and becoming the United States’ 47th president, Kenyans took to social media to congratulate and celebrate him but turned on Whitman by pushing hashtags such as 'Recall Meg Whitman' and 'Resign Meg Whitman' on X, demanding that Trump removes her as a Kenyan envoy.

Their criticism stemmed from her tenure as the US envoy to Kenya, during which, the former tech CEO and billionaire drew criticism from Kenyans who accuse her of “meddling” in Kenya’s politics and of maintaining unusually close ties with President William Ruto.

This connection was evident during Ruto’s recent U.S. state visit, where Whitman played a highly visible role in facilitating his agenda, a display that highlighted her access and influence, rare even among U.S. ambassadors.

Whitman’s approach has largely focused on economic issues, sidestepping Kenyan political matters even amid public concerns about governance and democracy. In doing so, she has left human rights and democratic issues to other U.S. envoys dispatched by Washington, positioning herself strictly as a commercial ambassador under her “Why Africa, Why Kenya” initiative, promoting Kenya as an attractive destination for American business.

This style of diplomacy has earned her comparisons to “rogue ambassadors” like Smith Hempstone, the former U.S. envoy to Kenya, known for his combative and unapologetic approach. While Hempstone was admired by opposition figures for his fearless style, Whitman’s actions have alienated many Kenyans who see her as aligning too closely with Ruto’s government.

For instance, in defence of the 2022 general elections, Whitman was asked in May 2024 if she would still stand by her statements, to which she firmly replied, “I would, because by all reports not by what America said there were well over a thousand election observers here, there were independent groups who made those comments, and from that we saw this was a free and fair election.”

On August 16, 2023, Whitman while speaking during the Devolution Conference said Kenya held the most free, fair and credible elections in its history, adding that the affirmation by the Supreme Court was a testimony that the election had been held in a transparent way. “I arrived in Kenya days before the general election, and what I witnessed was short of remarkable,” she said amidst cheers and claps from the crowd that included President William Ruto.

Her close connection to Ruto and apparent distancing from political controversies, however, have angered some Kenyans, thus leading to the calls for Trump to recall her.

However, fulfilling this in the immediate term might be impossible given Trump's task of maintaining the 60-year-old ties between Kenya and the US despite some policies that could test this relationship. Plus, like Trump, she is a member of the Republican party given that she ran an unsuccessful bid for governor of California as a Republican in 2010.

However, she was a significant donor backing Democrat Biden’s campaign and endorsed Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, in 2016 against Trump who was elected President for his first term.