A tale of two tough diplomats in Foreign Affairs
President Uhuru Kenyatta seen off at Moi international Airport Mombasa by Interior Principal Secretary Monica Juma when he left the country for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to attend IGAD Summit on South Sudan peace talks earlier this year. Also in the picture is the CS for Foreign affairs Amina Mohamed. Dr Monica Juma has been nominated to be Principal Secretary in the Foreign Affairs ministry. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Both are diplomats with international experience and have headed dockets that are not only important but also close to power.
Political and diplomatic watchers will be curious to see how the two women, each with a strong character, will work together.
The transfer of Dr Monica Juma to the Foreign Affairs ministry as Principal Secretary has resulted in the ministry being headed by two experienced diplomats.
Ms Amina Mohammed and Dr Juma’s careers are almost similar.
They are both self-driven and hard workers who demand the best from those they manage.
With the President reportedly keen on reducing foreign trips and giving more work to his ambassadors abroad, the two will have more to do.
Both are diplomats with international experience and have headed dockets that are not only important but also close to power.
JUMA'S EXPERIENCE
Before she was appointed PS to the Defence ministry in 2013, Dr Juma was Kenya’s ambassador to Ethiopia, also overseeing Kenya’s interests in Djibouti.
She was also the Permanent Representative to the African Union, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
That placed her at the head of the efforts during the Mwai Kibaki administration to get African states to push for the deferral of the cases Kenyans were facing at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
That did not succeed but the fight against the ICC was picked up by Ms Mohammed soon after her appointment as Cabinet Secretary in 2013 when President Kenyatta took over.
The former ambassador of Kenya to the United Nations in Geneva has been steering Kenya’s diplomatic efforts around the case.
The reshuffle of the Cabinet was announced when she was at The Hague attending the Assembly of State Parties, where Kenya was pushing two agendas.
TWO STRONG CHARACTERS
Political and diplomatic watchers will be curious to see how the two women, each with a strong character, will work together.
In essence, they are two diplomats working together; the one who was the country’s representative reporting to the former UN envoy.
Dr Juma’s transfer from the Interior ministry will be welcomed by MPs, who in the past said she was difficult to work with.
It was for this reason that her nomination as Secretary to the Cabinet, which was essentially a transfer to lighter duties, was roundly rejected in the National Assembly.
It is also understood that MPs had been quietly pushing for her transfer, with some Jubilee diehards reportedly complaining that with the ministry headed by a former ODM MP, Joseph Nkaissery, they wanted someone perceived to be closer to Jubilee in the docket to watch over things. Dr Karanja Kibicho was picked.
Her transfer to the Foreign Affairs docket does not necessitate vetting and the National Assembly is yet to approve the Bill that would have made that possible.
