Ministers' relatives picked as Kenya's envoys

• Close relatives of cabinet ministers and 2007 election losers are on the latest list
• Four of the new envoys named in the list released by the Foreign Affairs ministry are siblings of cabinet ministers
• Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka termed the appointments as “demoralising” to career diplomats

Close relatives of cabinet ministers and 2007 election losers are on the latest list of Kenya’s ambassadors and high commissioners.

Four of the new envoys named in the list released by the Foreign Affairs ministry are siblings of cabinet ministers, while four others are parliamentary losers during the last general election.

Also on the list are former provincial administrators believed to have taken sides and furthered the political interests of the three main protagonists during the 2007 presidential election, President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka.

The full list of Kenya’s representatives to the 51 fully fledged missions released by the ministry to coincide with the Public Service Week contains the names of Kenya’s new ambassadors and high commissioners or those whose terms have been extended.

That four of the envoys have their siblings in the cabinet while another is a twin brother to an assistant minister of government goes a long way to demonstrate how political connections influence appointments to key positions in government at the expense of merit.

Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka termed the appointments as “demoralising” to career diplomats who had served the country for decades without being appointed to such positions.

“It is very wrong and goes against the spirit of reforming our institutions of governance for people to be appointed simply because they are brothers and sisters of ministers and MPs when we have people who have served in the ministry for as many as thirty years without being made ambassadors,” Mr Onyonka stated.

He called for a law to ensure that even presidential appointments met certain standards.

The appointments also fly in the face of pronouncements by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno that the government would no longer tolerate not only nepotism but also tribalism in appointments to public service.

Speaking during the launch of the Public Service Week, the PM said the government would take stern action against government officials who practice nepotism and tribalism in making appointments to public service.

Mr Otieno on his part directed government officials heading institutions where tribal balance was not enforced to formulate ways of reversing the trend.

Those in the list include Dr Wenwa Akinyi, Kenya’s Consul General in Los Angeles, USA. Amb. Akinyi is a younger sister to the Prime Minister. Also on the list is Ms Catherine Muigai Mwangi who is Kenya’s ambassador to the Republic of Ireland. Ms Mwangi is a sister of Public Health Minister Beth Mugo and once served as a communications director at Kenya Airways.

Ms Mishi Masika Mwatsahu whose term as Kenya’s High Commissioner to Pakistan has been extended is a sister to Transport minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere while the country’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO is Dr Mary Khimulu, a sister of Co-operatives minister Joseph Nyagah. Ms Mwatsahu was first appointed to the post when her brother served as the Foreign Affairs minister while Dr Khimulu is a long serving official of the World Bible Society.

Prof Sospeter Machage who retains his posting as Kenya’s ambassador to Russia, is on the other hand the twin brother of assistant minister Dr Wilfred Machage. Prior to his appointment, Prof. Machage used to run a private hospital in Kilgoris town.

Notably, the list confirms Mr Addison Chebukaka as the country’s new high commissioner to London, replacing Mr Muchemi who was recalled several months back but is said to have declined to hand over office.