MILK AND HONEY

The passage of a new constitution in Kenya as well as the strengthening of democratic institutions will result in increased U.S. investment Kenya, Vice President Joe Biden has said.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, Biden said reforms in Kenya will open doors for US investors who are looking for reliable atmosphere of good governance which can only be achieved through reviewing Kenya's laws.

"Americans want to do business here. With reforms this will come."

He made the comments after talks with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Mr Biden arrived in Nairobi Monday evening on what is his first visit to the homeland of President Barack Obama's father since taking office.

Kenyans will vote on Aug. 4 for a new constitution aimed at limiting presidential powers and narrowing ethnic divisions that were at the heart of post-election violence in 2008.

The U.S. has backed the draft document, which it says will improve the prospects for democratic stability in Kenya.



Referendum

Kenyan lawmakers agreed on the draft constitution on April 1.

The text must be approved in a referendum by a majority of Kenyan voters in order for it to become law.

About 57 percent of registered voters will approve the draft on Aug. 4, while 20 percent will reject it, according a survey of 6,017 people conducted by the Nairobi-based polling company Synovate published on June 4.

The rest are undecided or won't vote, Synovate said.

The margin of error was 1.6 percentage points, it said.

Supporters and opponents of the draft constitution have been trying to sway public opinion by holding public rallies.

Both Kibaki and Odinga publicly back the draft text that will be put to voters in the August referendum.

In an interview with state-run Kenya Broadcasting Corp. on June 1, President Barack Obama urged Kenyans to turn out in large numbers for the referendum.

"I'm openly supporting the process," Obama said. "I'm not openly supporting the result." Obama's late father was a Kenyan from the Luo ethnic group.

In Kenya until June 10, Biden is also scheduled to deliver a speech on Kenya-U.S. relations, meet with Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir and speak with the Somali diaspora about that country's peace process.