Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohammed was dramatically
recalled from an assignment in Los Angeles hours after she had landed in
America for the high-profile mission.
President Uhuru
Kenyatta recalled Ms Mohammed after his recent trip to the US was
cancelled mid-air due to controversies surrounding clearance to fly in
airspaces in neighbouring countries.
Sources have told the Sunday Nation that
Ms Mohammed was required to get “on the next available flight back” to
Nairobi on that Saturday. The CS was also instructed to hand over her
working materials to her ICT colleague Fred Matiang’i.
Ms
Mohammed and Dr Matiang’i had arrived in the US on Friday ahead of the
expected visit by the President to attend the Milken Institute Global
Conference.
Sources said that on Saturday, State House
called Kenya’s ambassador in Washington Mr Njeru Githae and directed
him to extend to Dr Matiang’i “all the courtesies due to a head of
delegation”.
The instruction for Ms Mohammed to fly back to Nairobi is said to have been issued by the Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua.
The instruction for Ms Mohammed to fly back to Nairobi is said to have been issued by the Head of Civil Service Joseph Kinyua.
“She
was shocked by the decision, and she did not attend any meeting. She
was supposed to meet Kenyans resident in the US that evening,” a
diplomatic source said.
Mr Githae was left with the
task of briefing Dr Matiang’i whose task as the head of delegation
included representing the President in all meetings and plenary
discussions.
In one of the discussions where he
represented the President, Dr Matiang’i appeared alongside Rwandan
President Paul Kagame and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as
Kenya smarted from the embarrassment of President Kenyatta’s return to
Nairobi just four hours after taking off from JKIA.
“Dr
Matiang’i ably represented the President in all the forums and had to
update Nairobi on a daily basis,” said the diplomatic source.
Ms
Mohammed Saturday admitted she returned from the US earlier than
expected but said it was because the President’s trip had been
cancelled. The Sunday Nation had asked why she had been recalled before the end of the conference.
“There
is nothing like that. You do not recall a minister; you recall an
ambassador. I came back because my boss was not with me. I am minister
in charge of Foreign Affairs, and I travel with my boss who is the
President of this country,” she said on the telephone. She later sent an
SMS to say that she had also lost a relative.
FIVE CONSULATES
A
statement released by the Foreign Affairs ministry last week had
indicated that she had told Kenyans residing in the US that the
government would open five honorary consulates to serve them better and
facilitate voting in the 2017 General Election.
She
reportedly said honorary consuls would soon be appointed for Dallas,
Boston, Minneapolis and Chicago while the choice of Seattle for another
honorary consulate awaits formal approval.
But the Sunday Nation has established she did not address the Kenyans at the forum because by the time the meeting was taking place she was on the return flight to Nairobi.
Yesterday, she said the message to Kenyans was read on her behalf.
But the Sunday Nation has established she did not address the Kenyans at the forum because by the time the meeting was taking place she was on the return flight to Nairobi.
Yesterday, she said the message to Kenyans was read on her behalf.
“I
had prepared the speech, and it had my name on it. It was read on my
behalf, and there is no problem with that,” said Ms Mohammed.
She denied being reprimanded over the presidential flight mishap.
She denied being reprimanded over the presidential flight mishap.
State
House last evening confirmed that Ms Amina was asked to return home to
deal with issues surrounding the President’s aborted trip.
“Obviously
we had an issue with the travel and she is foreign minister. She had to
come home and deal with them. She was not recalled in any other sense.
She came back home because there were things she was required to deal
with and that is the practice internationally. CS Matiang’i was at the
conference and he naturally fitted into those shoes (as head of
delegation). Any other insinuation is absolute rubbish,” State House
Spokesman Manoah Esipisu said.
The President’s plane
was turned back in mid-air en route to Dubai where he was to take a
commercial flight to Los Angeles to attend the annual Milken Institute
Global Conference.
He later cancelled the trip but addressed the meeting via video link on Wednesday. State House announced that the trip had been called off due to heightened military activity in Yemen where a civil war is underway.
He later cancelled the trip but addressed the meeting via video link on Wednesday. State House announced that the trip had been called off due to heightened military activity in Yemen where a civil war is underway.
It later turned out that the
flight plan had not included Yemen. The plane was to pass through
Ethiopia, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia.
The plane is said
to have been turned back on Ethiopian airspace. President Kenyatta used a
similar route when he visited Jordan recently.
Eritrea on Wednesday sought to absolve itself from blame over President Kenyatta’s aborted trip.
Eritrea on Wednesday sought to absolve itself from blame over President Kenyatta’s aborted trip.
The Eritrean government protested its innocence, saying it had granted permission for the President to fly over its territory.
Eritrean ambassador Beyene Russom said his country issued the permission “in a matter of 20 minutes”.
Eritrean ambassador Beyene Russom said his country issued the permission “in a matter of 20 minutes”.
“We are protesting formally because this is completely false information that Eritrea did not allow the Kenyan plane.
On Monday, Ethiopian ambassador to Kenya Dina Mufti was summoned by the Foreign Affairs ministry in Nairobi, but no information on the discussions was given.
On Monday, Ethiopian ambassador to Kenya Dina Mufti was summoned by the Foreign Affairs ministry in Nairobi, but no information on the discussions was given.
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