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

Contacted, the Foreign Affairs Ministry sought to distance itself from the appointments, saying that the prerogative of picking the country’s ambassadors and high commissioners rests with the President.

“The appointment of ambassadors and high commissioners is the prerogative of the President. They are the President’s representatives overseas so he appoints people he thinks can best represent the country wherever they are,” said the Director of Public Affairs and Communication at the Ministry, Prof Egara Kabaji.

The head of the Presidential Press Service, Isaiah Kabira also declined to comment on the appointments when contacted, saying that he had to study the list first.

“I need to establish its authenticity first, then we can discuss it,” he told the Nation.

Another ambassador with family ties with a top official in the grand coalition is Elkanah Odembo, Kenya’s envoy to France. Mr Odembo is a brother in law to the government chief whip, Jakoyo Midiwo.

Among politicians who lost during the last general elections only to find their way to plum ambassadorial positions include former Kilome MP Mutinda Mutiso.

Mr Mutiso contested the seat on Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka’s ODM-Kenya ticket but lost to Transport Assistant minister John Harun Mwau. Mr Mutiso has since posted to Dar es Salaam to head the Kenyan mission.

Stephen Tarus, a former assistant minister who resisted the huge ODM wave in the North Rift to unsuccessfully defend his Emgwen seat on a PNU ticket is the new high commissioner to Australia, a key diplomatic posting.

Another huge beneficiary of political horse trading is one time powerful security minister Julius Sunkuli, who stepped aside to give the PNU candidate Gideon Konchella a head-start in the Kilgoris by-election.

For his troubles, Mr Sunkuli is the country’s ambassador to Beijing, China, another coveted diplomatic posting. Before his posting, the once powerful minister was running a law firm based at Bruce House in Nairobi.

Mr Kembi Gitura, Kenya’s new ambassador to Brussels, Belgium and the European Union also lost his Kiharu seat during the last elections only to land the plum job, as is Kenya’s new man in Vienna, Austria, immediate former North Horr MP Ukur Yatani.

Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner, Francis Sigei who was accused in some quarters of playing a partisan role in the last election is the new high commissioner to Nigeria.

Other former provincial administrators who have found their way to the diplomatic world include Franklin Esipila, the new Kenya ambassador to Ethiopia and John Abduba who is Kenya’s high commissioner to Zimbabwe.

The ministry joins a long list of government agencies that have come under scrutiny over the manner in which appointments to key posts have been made.

Ministers have been roundly condemned for breaking laws guiding appointments to parastatals and agencies to handpick their cronies.
Parliament set a precedent last month when it revoked the re-appointment of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) director Aaron Ringera and his two deputies, Fatuma Sichale after the president breached the law.