President William Ruto appears to have changed tack in his appointment of foreign service officers, naming more career diplomats compared to political appointees.
Most of Ruto’s diplomatic nominees vetted this week were career diplomats, a change noted by Foreign Relations Committee chairman Nelson Koech.
Koech said it is encouraging and important that more career diplomats are being posted abroad.
“It is important that we encourage this [trend] so that those who have stagnated are onboarded, and for some of us, such as politicians, can find our space in areas where we are equally trained,” Koech said.
He said as a committee, they find it refreshing when they vet ambassadors as their grasp of issues is seamless.
“When vetting ambassadors, you can tell that these are people who should be in the stations that we are vetting them for,” he added.
The nominees who were vetted are Former Labour CS Florence Bore (Namibia), PSC chairman Amb Anthony Muchiri (Turkey), Amb Lucy Kiruthu (Thailand), Henry Wambuma (Burundi), Abdirashid Abdille (Indonesia), Amb Joseph Masila (Saudi Arabia), Amb Edwin Afande (Austria), Jayne Toroitich (Dubai consulate) and Judy Nkumiri (Goma consulate).
Among the nine nominees, only Bore, Abdille and Nkumiri will be political appointees if approved by the National Assembly.
While Muchiri was, until his nomination, chairing the Public Service Commission, he has an extensive career in foreign service.
Kiruthu is currently serving as the acting Director General in charge of Political and Diplomatic Affairs at the ministry, while Wambuma is the ag. chief of protocol and previously served as deputy director, Asia and the Pacific Directorate. Amb Masila has been serving as director Economic Affairs and Commercial Diplomacy and Afande, a civil servant for 30 years, was deputy head of mission in London and in Beijing. Toroitich, who was nominated as Consul General, has an almost 30-year experience in foreign service, serving in Europe, Americas and the US.
Toroitich thanked Koech for recognising practising foreign service officers, noting that the Foreign ministry chair has many seasoned colleagues who can contribute “very meaningfully” to diplomatic missions.
“I hope, we will proceed this way so that as many career diplomats can sit before you and you will actually be very proud of them. I can say back in the ministry, there are exceptional foreign service officers who are fit to serve. And I only want to thank this committee for recognising me,” Toroitich said.
Political rejects were among the top beneficiaries of President Ruto’s foreign service appointments in march las year. Most of the appointees at the time were politicians who had initially been nominated to the unconstitutional CAS post, retired military chiefs and relatives to political figures.
The included former Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi (High Commissioner, Uganda) former Kisumu Senator Fred Outa (Ambassador, Egypt, former Baringo speaker David Kiplagat Kerich (US) and former Kericho Senator Christopher Langát (Ivory Coast). Former West Mugirango MP Vincent Kemosi was nominated as High Commissioner in Accra, Ghana but declined the job.
In December 2024, Ruto dumped his fired ministers to the foreign service. He named CS Andrew Karanja (Agriculture) to Brazil and CS Prof Margaret Ndung’u (ICT) and serve in Ghana. Ndung’u declined the posting.
He also named former Sports minister Ababu Namwamba as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)/United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).
