By Chris Wamalwa, Philadelphia, PA.
This coming Saturday, scores of Kenyans living in the Metro area- Washington, DC, Maryland and parts Virginia in the US will congregate at the Marriot hotel to say Kwaheri to Balozi Peter O. Ogego who returns home after a four year tour of duty.
If what happened in New Haven, Connecticut last month when Ogego held a similar event is any indication, emotions will be high as Kenyans say bye to the man they have come to admire and love because of his patriotism and work ethics.
When history is written, there is no doubt that Ogego will go down in books as one of the most effective Kenyan representative to the US, at least from the point of view of the programs and projects he initiated that proved very beneficial to Kenyans abroad.
Assuming duty at the time when the integrity of the embassy was severely under question following the recall of Mr. Ngaithe because of alleged misconduct with a fellow staffer, Ogego had not only the onerous task of ‘cleaning up house’ but also making the consulate meaningful to Kenyans living in the US.
Prior to his coming, an overwhelming majority of Kenyans never knew where the embassy was located let alone the role it played in their lives. Indeed many would only remember the embassy when one of their people had passed away and they had to ship the remains back home.
Mr. Ogego endeared himself to Kenyans not just because he had the courage to consistently and fiercely defend the much-discredited Kibaki government and his ‘once in a while’ jabs at the Obama administration however unpopular this seemed at times. He won the hearts and minds of Kenyans because of the specific practical steps he took to improve the services at the embassy something that Kenyans living here had lacked for a long time.
After sprucing up the physical look of the embassy office and making it presentable and professional, Ogego embarked on a state-by-state outreach program to interact and listen to Kenyans and getting to understand the issues that affected them.
This personal engagement with Wananchi helped him understand and appreciate the challenges that they faced. In the process, he also played a key role in demystifying the embassy to the large majority of Kenyans living in the US.
His on-the-spot passport renewal program was so popular that many Kenyans hurriedly formed groups and organizations to invite him to bring this service to their neighbourhoods. In fact Kenya’s immigration minister Otieno Kajwang is in town to officially launch and commission the issuance of passports from right here thanks to the efforts of Ogego.
At a personal level, even though Balozi and I occupied two diametrically opposing career professions and our paths would from time to time cross in the process of performing our duties, we had an unspoken understanding and appreciation of each other’s duties and responsibilities.† I deeply respected and admired Mr. Ogego’s intellect and his knowledge and understanding of the complex world of diplomacy.
Our different worlds intersected when from the get go, he made it a top priority agenda to candidly speak against tribalism and negative ethnicity among Kenyans living here because he quickly identified this as a consuming cancer that had spread from Kenya. It’s therefore my personal honor and privilege to wish Ambassador Ogego, his beautiful wife and lovely children a fulfilling and exciting ‘next stop’ in their lives journey. Kwaheri ya kuonana!
-The Standard
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