Photo/FILE The then Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula (right) addresses a news conference after meeting with envoys from the Americas at Serena Hotel September 7, 2010. He is flanked by the then PS Thuita Mwangi.
By WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, June 4 2011 at 20:00
Posted Saturday, June 4 2011 at 20:00
Seven months ago, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula and Permanent Secretary Mr Thuita Mwangi left their offices over corruption allegations in the ministry.
Since their departure on October 27 last year, the country has been without a substantive Foreign minister and PS – two key positions charged with promoting Kenya’s foreign policy.
Mr Wetang’ula, Kenya’s 17th Foreign minister since independence, stepped aside along with the PS to pave the way for investigations into Sh1.1 billion fraud allegations. (READ: Wetang’ula, PS resign in graft fallout)
They include alleged misuse of public funds in several land deals abroad, including the purchase of the building housing the Kenyan embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
So far neither the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission nor any other body has charged the two for corruption.
In Mr Wetang’ula’s absence, Internal Security minister Prof George Saitoti has been acting as Foreign Affairs minister.
An in place of Mr Mwangi, Political and Diplomatic Secretary Patrick Wamoto has been acting PS.
Michael Oyugi, who heads the Africa and AU Division, took Mr Wamoto’s position, also in an acting capacity.
The ministry is thus being run by people in acting capacity, and the import of this cannot be overstated.
“In the absence or lack of substantive Foreign minister and PS, my opinion is that it is indeed a sad commentary on the importance we place, as a country, on the conduct and articulation of our foreign policy,” said career diplomat Ochieng’ Adala, who retired from diplomatic service in 1994 after 30 years.
“It is as if we have accorded our foreign relations a very low priority. I believe that our parliamentarians have said as much in the past few weeks and rightly expressed concern at the prevailing situation,” he added.
The ministry of Foreign Affairs was established after Kenya became independent in 1963 to articulate Kenya’s foreign policy that rests on four interlinked pillars of economic diplomacy, peace diplomacy, environmental diplomacy and diaspora diplomacy.
In assessing the significance of the ministry, Masinde Muliro University lecturer Frank K. Matanga describes it as “the window through which any State interacts with the international community”.
“To perform its role, it must have in place an effective and efficient diplomatic staff in foreign states. It follows that any given state must have in place at all times, where possible, a fully functional ministry of foreign affairs,” Prof Matanga added.
The significance of this ministry was clearly demonstrated on June 2, 2004, when then Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Kiraitu Murungi asked President Kibaki to sack then Foreign minister Kalonzo Musyoka, a member of the disgruntled LDP, who he charged was sabotaging the government.
Mr Murungi argued that the foreign affairs portfolio placed Mr Musyoka as the third most powerful person after the President and the Vice-President. Thus, he argued, Mr Musyoka should not criticise the President.
Prof Saitoti, who has been the acting Foreign minister since last year, is a busy man in Internal Security and Provincial Administration, a docket that requires round-the-clock involvement.
The key question is whether he is in a position to discharge both duties in the two ministries, according each the attention it deserves.
Prof Saitoti had not responded to our questions on how he manages the two key dockets by press time.
Sources at the ministry told the Sunday Nation that the minister goes to the Foreign ministry offices once a week, mostly on Thursday, to respond to mail and appointments unless there is an urgent matter to attend to.
According to Prof Matanga, the current scenario where the Foreign Affairs docket has had an acting minister for almost a year is abnormal.
Core docket
“To that extent, the fact that Prof Saitoti has been heading the docket in an acting capacity does not do justice to the ministry and the Kenyan state in general.
“Already, the ministry of Internal Security is such a critical and core docket handling and co-ordinating all domestic security issues. It is obvious that Prof Saitoti must, therefore, be overwhelmed,” he said.
But the Office of the President has defended Prof Saitoti and stated that a substantive minister would be appointed at an appropriate time.
“Prof Saitoti has effectively handled the foreign docket with no lost opportunities,” the Head of Presidential Press Service Isaiah Kabira stated in response to the Sunday Nation.
The lack of a substantive head of the ministry notwithstanding, Mr Adala is not convinced that Kenyans have missed out on international jobs – a key measure of how aggressive the ministry drives the foreign policy – during the period.
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