US envoy to Kenya takes office after Senate nod
By Mercy.Mwai, August 2, 2022
New US ambassador to Kenya, Margaret “Meg” Whitman reports to office this week.
Whitmant’s arrival in Nairobi follows the Senate’s confirmation of her appointment by US President Joe Biden in December last year.
“Margaret C. Whitman (Meg), a business executive and former candidate for Governor of California, is a Member of the Board of Procter & Gamble and General Motors, and National Board Chair at Teach for America,” White House said in a dispatch announcing her new posting.
Whitman, who will be tasked with fostering trade relationships between Kenya and the US and implementing Biden’s foreign policies, takes over from the Kiswahili-speaking Kyle McCarter who left the post a year ago following the exit of Donald Trump.
She studied for a BA at Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University.
A billionaire businesswoman, Whitman (pictured) is best known for taking eBay from $5.7 million to $8 billion in sales as CEO from 1998 to 2008, she was also CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 2011 to 2015, where she oversaw its split into HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
In 2010, she ran as a Republican candidate for governor in California but lost to Democrat Jerry Brown.
She later supported now-Senator Mitt Romney’s runs for president in 2008 – before she eventually became Senator John McCain’s national campaign co-chair – and in 2012 she backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race against Trump.