Kenya’s national interest today has substantially evolved from
what it was in 1990. This is both the result of domestic changes that
create new imperatives for survival as a nation, but also in the changes
in the very nature of global politics. Our foreign policy has barely
changed.
Historically, Kenya
has taken a conservative and even reticent foreign policy stance,
playing it safe on some of the most important issues of the day.
Generally, we have mostly played it safe in the most important global
issues, often deferring to the West’s official position. We have paid
lip-service to our professed commitment to pan-Africanism. Only in our
immediate neighbourhood have we taken a hard-nosed interest-driven
approach to diplomacy.
At a
glance, that is the logical thing to do for a lower middle-income
country with few existential threats, relative stability, limited
regional ambitions and modest military power. Despite internal ethnic
divisions, Kenyan politics is light on ideology, and our political
fights are really a banal struggle for resources.
Our politics might be noisy and boisterous, but few Kenyans have the stomach for violent political action. That is who we are.
WEALTH
But
we are something else too. We are captives of ambition, entranced by
the hope for wealth, and beholden to our little secular god – money –
through who we believe that everything is possible.
Our
desire for success has had a discernible impact on our collective
behaviour on the international plane. We have migrated en masse to
foreign lands where we believe we have a better chance at personal
achievement and economic success. At the same time, we have consistently
courted foreign wealth, whether this is in the form of aid or
investment. Both instances mean that we see the outside world in terms
of opportunity rather than threat.
Kenya’s
conservative non-confrontational don’t-break-no-shells way of massaging
the back of the world resonates with such a mild national personality.
We are ok being “average” and have grown used to punching way below our
weight in matters of foreign policy.
It is time we changed the game, and thankfully, we do not have to look far for inspiration.
BLACK NATIONS
Rwanda,
a nation that only 25 years ago would justifiably fall into Trump’s
unsavoury category of black nations. Today, a country with a land mass
of about 26,000 kilometres square puts to shame the daunting foreign
policy machines of regional hegemons such as Nigeria, Morocco and even
South Africa. Rwanda’s land mass is 4 pc of Kenya’s.
Mauritius
is the other compelling example. Mauritius is a tiny country which,
with a land mass of 1,865 kilometres, is about 0.3 pc of Kenya’s
landmass of roughly 580,000 square kilometres. That is smaller than
Kiambu County. Its foreign policy game has been simple – promote the
country as an investment destination.
The
two countries’ visibility has got little do with their natural
resources. For example, Mauritius is known as a top global tourist
destination, yet its coastline is 330 kilometres, which is about a third
of Kenya’s 1, 420 kilometres, and whose beaches are as good. Rwanda has
been extremely successful in positioning itself as a tourist
destination, yet the entire country would fit into Amboseli national
park with enough space to also fit in Burundi and Mauritius.
There
is a simple logic that underlies the foreign policy game in either
country – bring the money home. One part of the game is an efficient PR
machinery, which is exactly the proper job description of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. The other part is a severe investment promotion
machine, whose job is less about pageantry, and more about getting
investors to commit investments into the main sectors of its economies.
FOREIGN MISSIONS
The
reality is that our domestic bureaucracy is nothing close to being as
efficient as Rwanda’s or Mauritius, but it has the resources to outclass
them. Perhaps the solution is calling it as it is. That means
abandoning rhetorical pretences and focusing foreign missions to serve
the most important economic sectors at home. It also means customising
our missions according to the opportunities in the specific countries.
Of
course there are major political issues to resolve in Kenya, but Rwanda
and Mauritius hardly exist in political vacuums. The difference is that
their investment promotion games overshadow domestic shenanigans. Kenya
is today best-known abroad for its political drama. Google it!
That
is not to say that our diplomats are not doing a sterling job abroad.
The point is that the old model of having an ambassador and a few
diplomatic attaches is to expect our diplomats to do the impossible
against the fact of severe competition among states. Our diplomats could
well remain suave, charming and as civilized as the queen, but they
should be backed with crack units of technocrats in foreign missions and
at home, whose clear mission is to make Kenya rich.
Dr Kiprono Chesang is a public affairs consultant.
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