Govt: No nepotism in Kenya embassies

Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura. Photo/FILE 

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU (ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com)
Posted Monday, November 15 2010 at 16:01

The government on Monday parried away accusations of nepotism, tribalism and political patronage in the appointment of ambassadors to Kenya’s 51 foreign missions.

Speaking when they appeared before a panel of MPs at Nairobi’s Continental House, Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno, Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura and acting Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Patrick Wamoto said all the appointments were done on merit.

Mr Muthaura added that the government had already decided to transfer 18 civil servants from the foreign affairs docket to balance the tribal arithmetic in the docket.

“Certain communities were overrepresented in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… the thrust was to correct the tribal imbalance,” said Mr Muthaura.

He added: “Appointments in the Foreign Service are not haphazard, this is serious business carried out by the Public Service Commission.”

However, MPs insisted that some of the envoys, more so the ones in New York (UN) and Brussels (Belgium) were not qualified in their work.

The MPs questioned the rationale of recalling envoys and then replacing them with “fresh graduates with no experience.”

They cited the case of London, where the commercial attaché was recalled only to be replaced by an economic counsellor. The government’s explanation was that the decision was meant to save the public money.

The MPs, all members of the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee, said that in Germany, the immigration attaché was recalled and replaced by “a political officer” who had no knowledge on immigration matters.

They said the Kenyan Ambassador in Germany, Mr Mutuma Kathurima, had written nine letters protesting the decision to recall the immigration attaché but the government only acted after the House committee intervened.

Mr Muthaura said the government’s policy was meant to ensure efficiency in the foreign missions. He said the staff are recalled from missions abroad because of “indiscipline, underperformance and other administrative reasons.”

But, when they complained to MPs, they only cited intimidation and tribalism.

Mr Muthaura said it cost the country up to Sh2 million to keep one foreign attaché overseas and therefore the issue of cost was paramount.

The Head of Civil Service said the government had a policy to employ local staff “at a quarter of the cost”, but he failed to demonstrate that this was actually the policy being implemented.

“The policy as you’re saying is very right, but that’s not what’s on the ground. This policy has been abused over the last few years to the detriment of the country. They used this thing you are calling rationalisation to benefit their cronies,” said Mr Adan Keynan, the committee chairman.

Mr Muthaura held his ground saying that in the case of Germany, “what an immigration officer can do is not very complex work.”

Mr Wamoto added that some attaches are actually not needed in all the foreign missions. For example, he said, immigration is given a priority only in countries with many visitors to Kenya.

“You are not doing what you’re saying. The people you are sending to these embassies are fresh graduates. We are talking about cronyism, nepotism and all the other isms. This is not a quarrel about policy, it is a problem of the execution of that policy,” said Mr George Nyamweya, a committee member.

Mr Otieno, however said, a full list of all employees in foreign missions, their relations to top politicians, their qualifications and experience will be tabled before the committee in four days.

He tasked the acting Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof George Saitoti – who was absent though he had been invited — with addressing the issues raised by MPs.

Mr Keynan alluded to a push and pull between fresh cadets and the old hands in various missions, saying, this was likely to cause a serious dent in Kenya’s foreign policy.

The MPs also mentioned Mr Kembi Gitura, Kenya’s envoy in Brussels, who they said was not competent to hold the job.

“Lawyers are very good representatives in Brussels and this is more important if they have a political background,” Mr Muthaura said. “And I say that with a lot of conviction because I have served in Brussels and in New York.”

The House Committee is investigating claims of nepotism, cronyism and tribalism in government appointments of diplomats.