Raychelle Omamo: New law will streamline hiring of diplomats

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo says the government will be able to balance recruitment of ambassadors between career diplomats and politicians, with the passing of a new law.

Ms Omamo said on Friday the new Foreign Service Act has given professional standards with which the government can use in future to ensure diplomats sent abroad are suitable.

The comment came as she spoke on the successes for her office in the last two years for which she labelled the election of Kenya to the UN Security Council as well as the passing of the new act as some of the success stories since 2020.

Yet the idea that there has been some form of imbalance between career diplomats and political appointees seemed to be the enduring challenge.

“The Foreign Service Bill was passed and it will professionalise merit-based recruitment…We will ensure that they are properly trained, and promoted based on the seat of their brow, not who they know,” she said, referring to recruitment of cadets.

“We do not have an overemphasis on political or career diplomats. We want a balance. We don’t want to see career diplomats feeling excluded.

The new act provided criteria for appointing diplomats, but the President will retain a free hand in choosing between politicians, other professionals and career diplomats.

Heads of missions

It also specifies on who can become an ambassador abroad, excluding dual nationals from serving as heads of missions. In the past, ambassadors were not classed as state officers but the new law treats them just as officers of government in this category.

Kenya has 64 embassies and consulates abroad, with President Uhuru Kenyatta opening a further 7 missions in the last five years. But for a long time, people who had worked long years at the Foreign Ministry complained of being overlooked when ambassadorial positions were created. They also complained of fewer training opportunities.

Ms Omamo told a press conference every new recruit will now be helped to study different international languages at the Foreign service institute, which has been expanded from the Foreign Service Academy in the new law.

But she did suggest the ministry will continue relying on experts from other fields, especially since the current global issues are now based on varied challenges from climate change to health.

International affairs

In the last two years, Kenya says it has managed to steer ties with “friendly nations” in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic and helped the ministry move “from the periphery of government focused only on international affairs, to the centre of government.”

From negotiating for vaccine supplies to helping the UN set up a Covid-19 hospital for its staff as well as providing transportation corridors for UN agencies in times of lockdown, Omamo says the last years helped diplomats play a central role in emergencies.

The two years though saw a worsening security situation in the region, including the Tigray war, Sudan’s crisis and a Somalia that hasn’t been able to complete elections on time.

She said Kenya will continue to push for ceasefire, dialogue and humanitarian access, but said there are no guarantees they can be achieved fast.

“We have dealt with this crisis. We have endeavoured to support Ethiopia, we have provided counsel and we have engaged in our quiet soft diplomacy to push the process forward.

“We believe in Ethiopia’s ability to reach consensus. Sometimes consensus takes time. Sometimes things don’t move as quickly as you would want but what you need to do as a neighbour is to remain committed.”