Nairobi, May 11 -- The United States House Speaker Mike Johnson has turned down a request by top Democrats for President William Ruto to address a joint session of Congress.

The request to address the joint session was made by the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs in April, which formally requested Speaker Johnson to invite President Ruto to address a joint session of Congress, potentially giving the Kenyan leader a new podium to promote his ideals.

But in a statement, Johnson's deputy chief of staff, Raj Shah, said the speakers' decision not to invite Dr Ruto to address lawmakers was due to "scheduling constraints".

"Speaker Johnson welcomes President Ruto to the Capitol. We have offered the Kenyan embassy over 90 minutes of engag...