PS Macharia is vomiting on our shoes

My little niece Noelle is too perceptive for her age.

When she watched Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau speak on a TV news bulletin last Wednesday, she remarked: “Is that a Kenyan!”

The 62-year-old man on the screen appeared so alien, he had no qualms dismissing the complaints of mistreatment by scores of Kenyans currently trapped in China and blaming them for their misfortune.

He also came off as quite condescending — lecturing Kenyans about air travel with his “ndege sio matatu” remark and throwing tantrums before a public accountability institution as important as Parliament.

Dear my little niece Noelle,

I wish to let you know that you aren’t alone in expressing your embarrassment at Mr Kamau’s performance on TV the other day.

Many other Kenyans have taken to the mainstream and social media to voice their disappointment too.

A former colleague in the newsroom posted on his Facebook timeline a link to a story published by The Mail & Guardian in which the South African minister for International Relations and Co-operation Naledi Pandor stated that it was his department’s responsibility to “provide assistance to South Africans in distress outside our borders”.

NATIONAL CONCERN

To underline the accountability standards gulf between Kenya’s and South Africa’s top foreign service officials, my former colleague observed: “Our own Amb Macharia Kamau speaks Chinese.”

South Africa isn’t the only country to be concerned about the fate of their citizens caught up in coronavirus-related lockdowns overseas.

The US embassy in China sent out an advisory about racist treatment of African people in China and warned African Americans that they could be targeted too.

Videos have been circulated on social media of a Nigerian diplomat engaging Chinese officials about the mistreatment of his compatriots in Guangzhou, while the Chinese ambassador in Abuja has been summoned by both the Foreign Affairs minister and the parliamentary Speaker.

Going by the torrent of criticism of Mr Kamau’s arrogance and China-centric rant, there is no doubt that the vast majority of Kenyans expect their government to seek similar protection guarantees for their fellow citizens in China.

TOP DIPLOMAT

But chances of that happening are close to nil, with characters such as Mr Kamau continuing to call the shots at the Foreign Affairs ministry.

Technically, the PS is highly qualified for the office. Before his current job, he served as Kenya’s ambassador to the UN when the government deployed its diplomatic resources to shield six Kenyans, including Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr William Ruto, from prosecution at the International Criminal Court.

Public servants with credentials like his are almost untouchable in Kenya. To paraphrase the famous statement by Edward Clay, a former British High Commissioner to Kenya, their sense of self-entitlement can cause them to vomit on our shoes.

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