Many hailed President Kenyatta’s recent ambassadorial appointments
as representative of the Kenyan face. However, the fate of two of the most hard
working and diligent ambassadors, I know of, was hanging in the balance. I pray
the president has a better plan for them. Wait a minute; I have a better plan
for one of them. The former ambassadors of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Mohamed
Mahat and Salah Mohamed, were replaced but there was no mention of their next
destination. I hold no brief for either of them and I know it is the prerogative
of the president to appoint anyone but anyone who has been to these two
countries will attest that they are great people’s servants.
Salah is a legend in Northern Kenya. He single-handedly
ended the shifta menace and the constant inter-clan clashes in NEP when he was
the provincial commissioner. He was able to bring peace to the region thanks to
his unique management style and his grasp of the local culture and politics. He
refused to be drawn in to local politics and clan rivalry and dispensed his
duties justly. He accomplished all these in a short tenure of about 3 years.
