Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has responded to reports that President William Ruto appointed politicians as ambassadors at the expense of career diplomats.
This comes after recent changes to his administration, where President Ruto nominated former Health CS Susan Nakhumicha to serve as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to UN-Habitat in Nairobi, and Peter Tum as Ambassador to Kinshasa, DRC.
James Buyekane and Abdi Fidhow were also nominated to serve as Consuls General in Guangzhou, China, and Arusha, Tanzania, respectively.
While appearing before the Senate Committee on Security and Foreign Relations on Tuesday, April 29, Musalia Mudavadi was questioned by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna on why Kenya is appointing non-career diplomats, especially retired politicians, to represent the country.
Sifuna stated that the matter is of grave concern due to the nature of diplomatic engagements. He questioned whether foreign missions should be staffed by retired politicians and others, suggesting that they risk becoming dumping grounds for non-professional diplomacy.
“What is the government position on this, whether you have you have received those concerns from whether you’re willing to do anything about it, or that you think the men and women that we are sending to these foreign missions are up to the task,” Sifuna posed.
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Mudavadi Responds to Ruto Appointing Non-Professionals to Diplomatic Missions
In response, Mudavadi acknowledged that staffing is a concern, noting that the extent to which the country supports career diplomats has been a major challenge.
He mentioned that the ministry has now integrated the issue into the sessional paper to guide future appointments and maintain proper professionalism.
“Our proposal is that 70% of diplomats should be career officers who have trained and grown within the system, while 30% can come from external appointments,” Mudavadi said.
“There is merit in bringing in a few experienced individuals from outside the system, as we cannot be entirely insular. But this 70-30 ratio is now part of policy, making the position clear and no longer ambiguous. It is our hope that this will guide future nominations to the diplomatic service.”
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Prime CS Says Italy, Vatican Ambassadors Are Career Diplomats, Addresses Candle Ceremony
Mudavadi went on to clarify that the ambassador to Italy and the ambassador responsible for the Vatican, who is based in Paris, are both career diplomats.
“So, the whole issue of somebody giving the impression that they are politicians is false information. They’re career diplomats,” he said
“I was there, physically, and I can tell you that a lot of what is being spread around is just people satisfying their own imagination. There was nothing like that.”
He added, “In fact, I believe there was a Member of Parliament who mentioned that candles were lit and given to the leaders, only for them to go out. But it was broad daylight.”
Mudavadi stated that one does not need candles in broad daylight, and no candles were lit, adding that no head of state had candles.
His remarks also come a few weeks after National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed highlighted a scenario where diplomats’ careers deteriorate due to politicians occupying their positions.
“You cannot be recycling people who have served in a high office and then give them another office. When will career diplomats get a chance to serve in our diplomatic missions?” he posed.
“Every politician or civil servant who has failed is being dumped in a certain mission somewhere in the world. This is demoralising our career civil servants.”
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