Senators Decry Sorry State of Kenyan Embassies Abroad

The Senate, through the National Security, Defense, and Foreign Relations Committee, has opened investigations to establish why most Kenyan embassies abroad are in a sorry state.

This comes after Senators questioned why the government has been spending billions of taxpayers’ cash on renting residences for Kenyan diplomats after running down embassies.

They pointed out that most Kenyan embassies are in a deplorable state and can no longer house diplomats due to lack of maintenance.
 
Senators said most of the facilities are dilapidated, with cracks on the walls and floors, leaking, and are at risk of collapsing.
 

“We were in Ethiopia a few months ago and what we saw was deplorable. The ambassador had to be literally rescued from her house because it had cracked and it could fall. It has not fallen yet, but what we saw was pathetic,” Nominated Senator Halake Abshiro said.

Halake accused the government of overburdening the taxpayer and wants the Foreign Affairs ministry to explain how it plans to improve the state of the embassies.

“The ministry should give reasons why taxpayers continue to shoulder exorbitant rents for Kenyan diplomats even where the country owns property because of lack of maintenance,” he said.

Migori Senator Ochillo Ayacko, who previously lived in South Africa and Ethiopia, noted that most Kenyan embassies have run down and lack staff to properly serve Kenyans in the diaspora.

“I noticed that the ability of our embassies there [Ethiopia and South Africa] to effectively serve us was limited because other than the rundown facilities that have been pointed out by my colleague, they were not funded,” Ayacko said.
 
Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo asked the Foreign Relations Committee to investigate the matter and come up with a proper structure to ensure missions abroad serve their purpose.

“You can imagine Uganda has Uganda House in New York, but a country like Kenya rents a building somewhere. That is embarrassing because we were there before them,” she lamented.

On his part, Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga said Kenyan missions are supposed to be the face of Kenya abroad and it is shameful that they are neglected.

“It is more than 50 years since we got our Independence and we are the only country that does not own property. Where we have property, it is dilapidated because we do not take care of it. We have Kenya House in London and other places but all of them are dilapidated,” he said.

Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula said: “At independence, Emperor Haile Selassie gave Kenya five acres next to State House in Addis Ababa and Mzee Kenyatta gave Ethiopia two-and-a-half acres next to State House in Nairobi. The Ethiopian Embassy in Nairobi is a magnificent place but our Embassy in Addis Ababa is a slum and that runs through in many places.”