Kenya is celebrating its 60th Jamhuri Day on Tuesday and the government of the day, under President William Ruto, says it is pursuing economic and commercial diplomacy. Yet that is hardly a departure from the past where vagueness on some issues and vocal stances on others persisted in foreign policy.
Kenya Kwanza Alliance, for instance, said in its manifesto that it will be “leveraging our international engagements to create opportunities for our citizens, businesses and investors.”
The section on foreign policy was small but it still referred to something that indicated it wasn’t a departure from the old: Seeking positive influence as an anchor state for Africa in global affairs, banking on the diaspora and supporting the work of international organisations.
Experts and diplomats who observed Kenya over these decades say it is a pattern that only changes focus, not interest. However, there has been lack of clarity on what those are.
For example, Kenya joined the United Nations four days later and many world powers, including the Soviet Union (Russia), (West) Germany, China as well as Ethiopia, established diplomatic ties with Nairobi.
Since then, Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has listed, among achievements, as hosting United Nations Office in Nairobi (Unon), since June 1996, becoming the only UN headquarters in the southern hemisphere, hosting the UN Environment Programme (Unep) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Kenya was also an active member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which was formed during the Cold War. Ngovi Kitau, a former Kenyan diplomat, says the soft power, neutrality and non-aligned posture “has attracted many countries to bestow trust and confidence in Kenya.”
Kenya has been elected five times to serve as one of the 10 non-permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) (there were fewer non-permanent members in the past until reforms raised the number).
“This is a major achievement because a country needs to raise a two-thirds majority to be elected, and as of today, there are over 30 UN member countries who have never got a slot in the UNSC,” Kitau told Business Daily in an interview. Kenya was first elected to the UNSC in 1973-1974 and recently served during the 2021-2022 term. A non-permanent member usually lacks veto powers, but there is prestige in sitting on the Council whose permanent members include Russia, China, US, UK and France.
“The founding President Jomo Kenyatta recognised the fluid nature of international relations, and diversified alliance portfolios,” Kitau explained.
“He built strong relations with other newly independent African nations and resisted external influences that could threaten Kenya's sovereignty. He found solace in value-based diplomacy and multilateralism. This approach made Kenya a recognised leader in Africa and a respected voice on the global stage.”
Whether Kenya has excelled on the international stage is one issue. There are those who also list conservation of wildlife and environment, athletics triumphs, the fight against terrorism, humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and conflict resolution as among other Kenya’s successes.
But whether it has done that based on foreign policy is debatable.
Dr Hawa Noor, an affiliated Fellow at the Institute for Intercultural and International Studies [InIIS] at the University of Bremen argued that Kenya has been influential, especially in defending capitalism, Israel and various peace initiatives such as in Sudan (that helped South Sudan secede).
“As a regional hub that hosts many foreign missions, this position aids the advancement of its Foreign policy,” she told Business Daily.
However, she added that Kenya’s foreign policy “has been securitised in the past years with the so-called war on terror discourse”. “Whether this has elevated or weakened Kenya’s position depends on one's perspective. Some think it is a win, given the partnerships involved while other argue that it had slowed down its democratic standing broadly.
“Arguably, together with other incidents like Kenya’s role in Operation Jonathan (Israeli raid on Entebbe), the capture of (Turkish Abdullah) Öcalan, its policy towards Israel, etc, have left the country exposed to those against some of these developments, including violent actors,” Dr Noor said, referring to how Kenya helped Israeli’s rescue their nationals in Entebbe during Idd Amin’s regime, and how Kenya helped arrest a Turkish armed revolutionary Abdullah Öcalan, back in 1999 in Nairobi.
So what was Kenya’s foreign policy? Dr Bob Wekesa, the deputy director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States University of the Witwatersrand says Kenya’s foreign policy has oscillated between periods of deliberate strategy and unintentional impulses.
“But for most of the six decades, the foreign policy has been driven by unintentional impulses,” said Dr Wekesa, also a senior lecturer at Wits Centre for Journalism.
Kenya only documented its foreign policy for the first time in 2014, he says. Before that, it was influenced by development plans and legislation, regional (such as the twists and turns of the East African Community), African continental issues (such as the transformation from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union (AU) and global dynamics (particularly the West-East geopolitics).
“The fact that there was no written and official policy means that Kenya has been flying blind for the most of this period,” Dr Wekesa said.
Mr Kitau admits that the East-West orientation can be a challenge to Kenyan diplomats, especially since choosing one side can be tricky in a changing balance of power.
“The actual challenge is in balancing the competing interests and ensuring that Kenya's relationships with both Western and Eastern powers, as well as neighbours, remain positive and beneficial for Kenya,” Kitau said.
“A good example is the saga in Ukraine which started in February 2022. One side is calling it a special military operation, while the other calls it an invasion.”
The other division is on Israel where everyone agrees civilian lives matter but people differ on whether Israel’s right to self-defence overshadows Palestines’.
“That is the dilemma,” he said, referring to the votes at the UN on the issues and how they differed with Kenya’s biggest trading partners China, India, Tanzania and Uganda.
Dr Wekesa says the solution is to align Kenya’s policy to its constitution, including adopting devolution.
“Although a couple of memos, guidelines and legislation have been issued, a more comprehensive overhaul of foreign policy is required to make it fit for purpose in a decentralised context,” he explained.
The Devolution Act bars counties from conducting many diplomatic functions, something he argues is counter to trends around the world.
“Sub-national diplomacy is now entrenched elsewhere in the world. Simply, put, Kenya needs a new foreign policy framework.”
It may have to work on who actually works in the Foreign Ministry to make it professional. A big problem is the scourge of nepotism, tribalism, and cronyism in the appointment of ambassadors, Wekesa observed.
“Political ambassadorial appointments are all fine. However, the appointments should not be based on narrow reward motivations.”
After all, the East vs West thing isn’t that bad especially now that the world is multipolar. Kenya can gain a lot from the West in the governance, democracy, and human rights spheres. From countries such as China, Turkey, middle east states, Japan and others, the foreign policy should be geared towards economic agendas, the experts suggest.
Dr Noor suggests the next 60 years should see Kenya adopt a more feminist approach to foreign policy by putting human beings and people at the centre as opposed to the old fashioned state and national interests.
Some countries Canada, Sweden, Mexico, France, Spain, Netherlands among others in order to emphasise more on peace and justice, for example as opposed to state security and war, and elite male dominance.
“This will radically change our international engagement and push us to a more just world. “A feminist foreign for Kenya would mean alleviating discrimination and structure of inequality that can no longer be tolerated in today's world.
“Grievances on the streets of the world today, including in Kenya, can be remedied with a feminist foreign policy that promotes equality, demilitarization, diplomacy, multilateral cooperation to solve these problems as opposed to conventional solutions that have not much to show despite many years in practice,” she said.
