After serving as Kenya’s ambassador to the US for four years, Peter Nicholas Rateng’ Oginga Ogego is leaving. Breaking the news to KEN by phone, Mr Ogego said that he had indeed received a letter from Mr Thuita Mwangi, the Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs, instructing him to wide up his tour of duty. “I can confirm to you that I have received the letter instructing me to report back to the headquarters in Nairobi by May 17th ”, he told this reporter.
Soon after news of a reshuffle was broken by a section of the Kenyan media, our newsroom was inundated with calls from our readers who sought to know whether we had any further information on Mr Ogego’s fate. Most of the Kenyans who called KEN spoke highly of the envoy while many expressed their wish that the ambassador could stay on for a little longer. “He has transformed the embassy and set the bar very high”, said Mr David Ochwang’i, the President of Kenyan Community in Atlanta (KCA).
But the outgoing ambassador says he is ready to call it a day and cautioned against unnecessary gossip. “There is no need for unwarranted speculations. I have served my four year term and it is time for me to go home. Someone else will take over and life will go on”, he said during the phone interview. Since Kenya’s independence, the embassy in DC has had eleven occupants, the first having been Mr. Burudi Nabwera, who was posted soon after the US established its embassy in Nairobi in 1963. The posting is seen by many as one of the plumiest civil service appointments and has often generated a lot of heat as politicians jostle over who should be Kenya’s flag bearer in Washington DC.
Ogego, who also serves as ambassador plenipotentiary in charge of Mexico and Colombia says he leaves DC with his head held high up. “I can now look back and say it was well worth it”. Apart from the 2006 awkward moment the envoy had with the then Illinois Senator (who would later become the 44th President of the US) , Ogego’s stint in the US capital has been described by many as very progressive. “We can only pray that his successor’s feet will be big enough to fit in his(Ogego’s) shoes”, said Dr GG Gitahi, an Atlanta based college professor and church minister. Others see it as a good challenge. “We hope that the next ambassador will strive to maintain the high standards set by Mr Ogego”, says Gregg Omotto in an email to KEN from Boston MA.
His stint in the US will perhaps go down in history as the most impeccable. When President Mwai Kibaki announced his appointment on June 14th 2006, Kenyans did not know what to make of it. Many thought of it as just another appointment, coming as it did after an embarrassing episode which led to the recall of the immediate former ambassador Leonard Ngaithe.
But the then 48 year old ambassador hit the ground running. Within weeks of his arrival in DC, his presence reverberated across the nation. Everyone who was paying attention knew there was a new sheriff in town. He began by undertaking a major renovation of the run down building that houses the embassy on R street in the nation’s capital. He crisscrossed the vast nation with engagements ranging from meeting the Kenyans in the diaspora to ceaseless high profile meetings with various government officials, potential investors and friends of Kenya. Everywhere he went, his defense of Kenya was fierce. He told those who cared to listen that the problems facing the nation were adequately being addressed by the then nascent NARC administration. He exuded confidence and great optimism. All indications bore him out; the system was working well, Kenya was sending over 7000 students annually to the U.S. and the county’s GDP growth that year was recorded at an impressive 6 per cent.
Within months, he had been to almost all the 50 states. He attended funerals and consoled bereaved Kenyan families across the nation, reclaimed artifacts stolen from Kenya, made rousing speeches at high profile functions, presented presidential commendation awards…and the list went on and on. Within a short span of time, he had become a darling of many.
When the dust settled, most people were unanimous in their verdict; never in the history of the Kenyan Embassy in DC had they seen a diligent, hardworking ambassador like Ogego. “The man is in a class of his own. Never before had I seen such an open, caring, enthusiastic, patriotic Kenyan ambassador in the five decades I have lived in this country”, said Peter Mwaniki, an Atlanta based Kenyan American who came to the United states in the 1960s.
Not known to shy away from speaking his mind, Ogego surprised many when, following the chaos occasioned by the infamous 2007 presidential elections, he publicly said that “the ethnic cleansing was premeditated long before the counting of votes commenced”.
Before moving to DC, he served as Kenya’s High Commissioner to Canada and Cuba. Earlier, he held several posts in the Office of the President in Nairobi. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and international law and a master’s degree in public organization and management from Makerere University in Uganda. He also holds a graduate certificate in development law, human rights and social justice from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague.
By the time of going to press, Mr Ogego’s replacement had not been made public.
Editor’s note
KEN has covered most of Ambassador Ogego’s engagements since he took office and we are very happy with his record. In our October/November issue, we carried a pull out on the envoy, together with that of Amb Muita and ran it as the lead story. KEN wishes him and his family all the best in their future endeavors.
Source: Kim Media Group
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