President Ruto Shocks Kenyans by Appointing Former Speaker of the Turkana County Assembly to become the Country’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York

President Ruto Shocks Kenyans by Appointing Former Speaker of the Turkana County Assembly to become the Country’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York


The United Nations is the most important Multilateral Post in the world. It is the epicenter of geopolitics; the Olympics of global diplomacy. 

Countries post their best diplomats as Permanent Representatives because failure to do so, risks exposing themselves to 192 other Member States.

Until yesterday, Kenya has had one of its most seasoned diplomats serving as the country’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York; Ambassador Martin Kimani.

Kimani holds a PhD in War Studies from Kings College, London. He previously served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to UNON as well as to the UNEP and UN-Habitat. 

Before his posting to New York, he was the Head of the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC). During his tenure at the center, he led efforts to prevent terrorism, rolling out plans across all counties and putting Kenya on the world map in counter-terrorism expertise. 

At the UN, he provided outstanding leadership during Kenya’s stint at the UN Security Council (UNSC). 

In October 2021 he was the President of the UNSC and he took that opportunity to push not only for Kenya’s interests but Africa’s interests as well. I will highlight the ones on top of my head: 

✅ He rallied Africans on the Security Council to shield the Ethiopia 2021 election from outside meddling. Further, he led the coordination in defense of that election at the UN. 

✅ He delivered the most famous and impactful Security Council speech in the last 20 years on Ukraine's invasion. The speech was highly acclaimed in diplomatic circles and by world leaders, and it sparked major conversations on decolonization.

✅ He stood up against the racism Africans faced while escaping Ukraine, making headlines across borders.

✅ At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amb. Kimani was among Kenya’s diplomats who strongly spoke against vaccine nationalism and vaccine apartheid, which were heavily impacting developing nations negatively, widening existing inequalities and making it difficult for the world to win the war against the pandemic. 

✅ He made an unprecedented move of taking the UNSC mission to the ground, during a very volatile situation in Mali following a coup. This was to better understand the conflict and assess the security situation. 

✅ He has also been at the forefront of pushing for international intervention in Haiti. 

✅ In 2023, Amb. Kimani was elected as President of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) 

Yesterday’s diplomatic reshuffle may mark the end of Kimani’s stint in foreign service, but the man has had an illustrious diplomatic career; remarkable and memorable. He will be succeeded in New York by Mr. Ekitela Lokaale, a former speaker of the Turkana County Assembly, who previously served as a Program Manager at UNDP.

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