Dr Martin Kimani, the straight shooting diplomat in New York

At the UN Security Council, the Kenyan envoy, Martin Kimani, has emerged as the “straight shooter” – according to the latest Africa Report – earning friends and, perhaps, foes alike.

In the recent days, Dr Kimani has ruled the social media – and has been the talk in diplomatic circles after his speech at the Security Council seemed to capture all what was wrong with Russia’s escapades in Ukraine.

“(I am) very proud of my PhD student,” said Prof Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies King's College London, after Dr Kimani addressed the UN Security Council on the latest crisis in Ukraine.

During an emergency Security Council meeting, after Russia’s president Vladimir Putin threw Europe into a crisis after it recognised the independence of Moscow-backed rebel regions Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine, Dr Kimani did not surprise those who have followed his contributions at the Security Council.

“This is a speech for the ages by Dr Kimani. He both recognises the illogical boundaries of empire, and praises the pragmatic and moral decision to live in multi-ethnic heterogeneous societies,” said Prof Pamella Scully, the vice provost, Emory University.

Ever since he arrived at the UN Headquarters and presented his credentials on December 3, 2020, Dr Kimani’s entry coincided with Kenya’s membership at the Security Council which gave him a chance to be at the apex of global politics. But how he has raised the standards of Kenya’s contribution at the Security Council has been noticed.

Before the invasion, Kenya had previously joined Gabon and India in refusing to vote for debate on actions taken by the Russian government near the Ukrainian border and which was being pushed by Washington.

High-level debates

“We did so to reflect our conviction that the main issue in contention here is the impasse between Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and the Russian Federation. We believe that it is imminently solvable and that the diplomatic steps underway already show promise,” the Kenyan envoy told the Council.

Russia had on its part, and with support of China, objected to the debate. It is such high-level debates that Dr Kimani finds himself in, at the moment.

From whether al-Shabaab should be listed as a terrorist organisation to the expansion of the Security Council, or Africa’s position on the Haiti crisis, Dr Kimani has noticeably been radical, nay, vocal.

“This is the burden of being at the Security Council. The quiet way that avoids all discomfort is not for us, but we have very positive relationships. We are not regarded as a delegation that is out to ruffle feathers,” he was recently quoted saying.

A PhD holder in War Studies at the Kings College, London, Dr Kimani had previously served as President Kenyatta’s Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism and as Director of National Counter Terrorism Centre.

But it is at the UN – and his take over Ukraine – that left the world pay attention to the Kenyan diplomat after he urged Russia to stop the war and learn from Africa.

In Africa, at independence, said Dr Kimani, "had we chosen to pursue States on the basis of ethnic, racial or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later. Instead, agreed that we could settle for the borders that we inherited. But we would still pursue political, economic and legal integration".

Approach to diplomacy

When he was asked whether he is straight shooting or it was Kenya’s approach to diplomacy, he said: “God forbid that it should be a personal thing. Look, you are on the (Security Council) for two years, and it could take a long time before we’re back. What are we supposed to do? Well, we think what we’re supposed to do is to strongly articulate positions that are important to our region.”

Kenya has been playing high-level diplomatic games which has witnessed the alignment of African diaspora as the Sixth African region under the principal of ‘African Solutions for African challenges’. 

Thus, the African Diaspora is now an entity and now holds same position as Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa, North Africa, and Central Africa. At the Security Council, the A3+1 group includes Kenya, Niger, Tunisia, and St Vincent and Grenadines and they have managed to execute the African and Caribbean agenda at the Security Council and have a common approach to African matters.

This followed a meeting that was held in Nairobi in July last year when President Kenyatta bestowed Rhoda King, the St Vincent and Grenadines Permanent Representative to the UN with Kenya’s second-highest medal, the Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear.

“Saint Vincent made a very conscious political decision at the level of their head of government to say that he aligned their foreign policy with African interests. It was a historical act, and I think it will be thought of in history as perhaps the beginning of a very powerful alignment between Africa and the Caribbean,” said Dr Kimani.

These diplomatic manoeuvres also explain President Kenyatta’s visits to Barbados, and the opening of Caribbean Community (Caricom) diplomatic mission in Nairobi by Barbados Premier, Mia Mottley.

But Dr Kimani seemed to be worried still that the UN Security Council is unable to have a proper regional and strategic approach to terrorism in Eastern Africa and on whether al-Shabaab should be listed as a terrorist organisation under Security Council Resolution 1267. But efforts by Kenya to have the organisation listed has been met by opposition by Western countries.

Death of multilateralism

“Al-Shabaab meets every criteria of 1267. But we are told that listing under 1267 would interfere with humanitarian aid…Last year, we sat down with humanitarian aid associations and asked them: ‘what can we do? And they said: ‘We need curve-outs’. During the renegotiations of 1267 in December, we suggested these curve-outs, specifically for al-Shabaab and it was again refused.”

With coups in Africa and the crisis in Eastern Europe, Kenya has found itself at the Security Council during some volatile moments.

His fear seems to be the death of multilateralism – which is the foundation on which the UN sits.

“Multilateralism lies on its deathbed tonight. It has been assaulted today as it as it has been by other powerful states in the recent past. We call on all members to rally behind the Secretary-General in asking him to rally us all to the standard that defends multilateralism,” said Dr Kimani before Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to W. Gyude Moore, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development and a former Liberian government minister, “Kenya, through its UN Ambassador, made as compelling and eloquent an argument that one can make for a permanent African seat on the UN Security Council. I couldn’t have been more proud of Africa’s representative.”

But Kenyan critic Patrick Gathara thinks that Kenya was the wrong country to lecture Putin. 

“While he is right to condemn Russia for its violations of Ukrainian sovereignty, the stench of hypocrisy permeates his speech. After all, in October 2011, Kenya itself massed troops and equipment on the border with its neighbour, Somalia, and sought a pretext to send them across, despite dire warnings from the West,” said Gathara in an Al Jazeera platform.

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