President William Ruto was poised to make history later this month by being the first African president to address the joint US Congress after a very long time.

However, his plans were cut short after Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Michael Johnson announced the cancellation of Ruto’s scheduled address to the legislative house. 

Ruto, who is set to embark on an official visit to the USA later this month, had been slated to address a joint session of the Congress where he would get a platform to state his ideals and Kenya’s commitment to its ties with the US.

Johnson, a member of the Republican party, blamed the cancellation of Ruto’s visit on what he termed as scheduling restraints.

“Unfortunately, due to scheduling restraints, we could not accommodate a request for remarks before a Joint Session,” Johnson told the house. 

The move irked a majority of ranking lawmakers who accused the Speaker of rebuking them.