Uhuru finally admits five envoys after four-month wait

President Uhuru Kenyatta with six incoming envoys at State House, Nairobi after he received their credentials on Friday, February, 17, 2017. /PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta with six incoming envoys at State House, Nairobi after he received their credentials on Friday, February, 17, 2017. /PSCU

President Uhuru Kenyatta has received credentials from five envoys after they were kept in the cold waiting for over four months.

This comes after the Star, two weeks ago, reported the plight of the embassies whose diplomatic services had stalled.

The embassies had no accredited ambassadors despite their home countries posting them to Kenya.

France had posted its ambassador in September whereas Saudi Arabia had sent the King's representative in August.

The Saudi embassy had operated without a full-fledged ambassador since early 2015.

The envoys, with their counterparts from Belgium, Morocco, Jordan, Malawi and Oman, had been told the President was busy.

They had sought audience with Uhuru, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to hand in their credentials.

"We were perturbed that even though we were being told that the President is busy, he was seen engaging in less prioritized events," a diplomat told the Star.

"But on Tuesday, we were called to prepare to come today (Friday). All the envoys as mentioned in the Star story handed in their credentials," the source, who sought anonymity, said.

Antoine Sivan is the new France ambassador to Kenya, replacing Rémi Maréchaux who served between 2013 to September 2016.

Sivan is the immediate former France ambassador to Libya, whereas Mohamed Abdulghani Khayat replaces Ghorm Malhan at the Saudi Arabia embassy in Nairobi.

Other who were posted include Agrina Mussa (Malawi),

El Mokhtar Ghambou (Morocco) and Slaiman Arabiat (Jordan).

Uhuru also received credentials from Ernesto Gomez Diaz

of Cuba.

Jordan has upgraded its consulate to a full-fledged embassy.

Read:


WATCH: The latest videos from the Star