All you need to know about Trump's nominee for US ambassador to Kenya

 Career diplomat Henry Wooster served as the top US diplomat in Haiti, a role he assumed in June 2025. [Courtesy]

United States President Donald Trump has nominated career diplomat Henry Wooster, a former ambassador to Jordan with extensive experience in Central Asia and the Middle East, to be the next US ambassador to Kenya, ending a 19-month vacancy at one of Washington’s most strategic diplomatic missions in Africa.

The nomination,  announced by the White House on Tuesday, requires confirmation by the US Senate. It comes at a delicate moment in US-Kenya relations, amid controversy surrounding a US-backed Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base and ongoing efforts to finalise a long-delayed bilateral trade agreement.

Wooster, a Virginia native and Minister-Counsellor in the US Senior Foreign Service, has held several senior diplomatic positions, including director for Central Asia at the US National Security Council, principal deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, and deputy chief of mission in Paris.

The 57-year-old diplomat holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College and a Master of Arts degree from Yale University.

Most recently, he served as the top US diplomat in Haiti, a role he assumed in June 2025. As Chargé d’Affaires in Port-au-Prince, Wooster oversaw a “whole-of-government” approach to US policy during a period when Kenyan troops led a multinational security mission.

A former US Army Reserve officer who served between 1985 and 2009, Wooster’s diplomatic career has included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Maghreb and Egypt, deputy chief of mission in Paris, and political counsellor in Islamabad.

Although he has extensive experience in the Middle East and Asia, there is no public record of him having previously served in Kenya or elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

If confirmed, Wooster will succeed former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman, whose two-year tenure ended shortly after Trump’s re-election in November 2024. The US Embassy in Nairobi is currently headed by Chargé d’Affaires Susan M. Burns.

His nomination comes as diplomatic tensions simmer over plans to establish a 50-bed Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base. This week, President William Ruto confirmed that he had approved the project at the request of the US administration.

The proposal has triggered protests in Nanyuki, where hundreds of residents demonstrated against the facility. Police dispersed some protesters with tear gas, while the High Court temporarily suspended the project, citing inadequate public participation.

President Ruto has defended the arrangement as part of a longstanding health partnership between Kenya and the United States. However, the project has attracted mounting criticism as political activity ahead of the 2027 polls intensifies.

Beyond the immediate controversy, Kenya and the United States are also working to conclude a new bilateral trade framework before the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) expires at the end of 2026.

Officials from both countries held an initial round of consultations in Washington in February, stressing the need for a trade agreement that would provide certainty for businesses after AGOA. Progress has been slow, however, following the collapse of earlier negotiations under both the Trump and Biden administrations.

Wooster’s nomination also comes as Kenya, a key US ally and Africa’s first major non-NATO ally, prepares for the August 2027 General Election. Political campaigning is already gathering momentum, with the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) seeking to consolidate power while opposition groups work to build a united front against President Ruto.

If confirmed, Wooster will become the 19th US ambassador to Kenya since the embassy opened on December 12, 1963, the day Kenya attained independence.

His tenure as ambassador to Jordan between 2020 and 2023 reflected a diplomatic approach that emphasised economic stability as a foundation for security. More recently, in Haiti, he advocated for measurable outcomes in foreign assistance programmes and stronger mutual partnerships between nations.

The date for his Senate confirmation hearing has not yet been announced.