Kenya ex-envoy lays into US over integrity call as Nairobi sees, hears no evil

A Kenyan former permanent representative to the UN has criticised a US government over a “lecture" on governance issues, even though Nairobi agreed with it.

The matter, concerning the ongoing vetting of nominated Cabinet secretaries, is about those supposedly tainted by integrity issues.

The US Embassy on Thursday called on Kenyan MPs to reject those with tainted integrity, coming in the wake of protests that had forced President William Ruto to sack his entire team of ministers.

“As Kenyans look ahead to the vetting of Cabinet nominees beginning today, we recognise the importance of integrity in public service and the National Assembly’s vital role in upholding Chapter Six of Kenya’s Constitution,” the Embassy said on August 1, without naming names.

But Martin Kimani, Kenya’s permanent representative to the UN in New York until April this year, saw the US commentary as a lecture the country doesn’t need. In fact, he saw it as a diversion from Washington’s own failures on global scale, one of which includes the ongoing war in Gaza, where a ceasefire has been elusive.

“Since my former @ForeignOfficeKE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) colleagues are restrained by their diplomatic sensibilities, I will respond to this grating lecture from a US experiencing political violence, plummeting trust in its electoral institutions, and an uncertain transfer of power,” Dr Kimani, now working for a think tank in New York, wrote on X. 

“Lecture less, renew US democracy, and deliver a ceasefire in Gaza.”

But on Friday, Kenya said it would not respond to the US Embassy comments, even though it agreed with the call for integrity issues to be prioritised.

“The statement (by the US Embassy) expresses a view that aligns with that of many Kenyans and is consistent with our Constitution,” said Dr Korir Sing’oei, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

“We take no serious issue with it,” he told The EastAfrican.

The dissolution of the Cabinet was initially a product of intense pressure from youth protesters, who initially began by forcing the government to withdraw a controversial finance bill. Initially, the US government steered clear of o the protests before cautioning Nairobi on the use of excessive force on protesters as well as respecting civil liberties.

The new team of Cabinet nominees includes some politicians from the opposition, with some who have been dragged before courts to answer questions of misappropriation of funds. 

The US government itself, however, had been in an awkward position just as the protests began in June, as some critics argued that it had looked the other as Nairobi prepared a controversial set of tax laws.

 Washington designated Kenya a major non-Nato Ally, which would normally grant Nairobi access to some military tech from the US, at a price.

Since then, however, Western diplomats have walked a tricky path of speaking for civil liberties while careful not to hurt the developing ties with Ruto’s government. Ruto in May went to Washington, becoming the first African leader since 2008 to make a state visit to the US.

This article originally appeared on The East African.