Weak-kneed diplomat: How Mudavadi is fumbling with diplomacy

The recent mistreatment of Kenyans in Uganda and Tanzania has exposed Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) Musalia Mudavadi, as perhaps one of the weakest handlers of the crucial docket ever. 

Since the Kenya Kwanza regime took the reigns, Kenyans have undergone wanton abuse in neighbouring countries without much protest from Nairobi or repercussions.

Historian Prof Macharia Munene thinks Mudavadi has done poorly, because each member of the United Nations is expected to adhere to particular principles, which include looking after and protecting the welfare of its citizens within and outside that country.

It arises from the reality that not all members practice the art of being ‘peace loving’, that frictions in certain countries translate to ‘un-peace’ that is trans-nationalised to other countries.

“Each country then has obligation to ensure its citizens are free from harm. Failure to do that implies the country does not know what its interests that need protecting and advancing are,” says Munene.

Political pundits and foreign affairs experts rate Mudavadi slightly better than his predecessor Alfred Mutua, both appointees of President William Ruto after he succeeded Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022.

“Mudavadi's performance has been very underwhelming. You cannot compare him with Amb Amina Mohammed,” says Prof Gitile Naituli of Multi-Media University.

A career diplomat, who served for two terms in Uhuru’s presidency, Amina cultivated good working relations between Kenya and the international community through her contacts, connections and influence at the United Nations and the African Union.

During her tenure, Amina ensured President Uhuru Kenyatta had a good rapport with key leaders across the world, and many of them flocked into the country.

She also had a very close working relationship with former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former chairperson of the AU.

In his rating, political analyst Martin Andati gave Mudavadi a low score of five out of 10, only one mark better than Mutua whom he gives four out of 10.

He also thinks Mudavadi is a pale shadow of Amina and others like Munyua Waiyaki and Njoroge Mungai, because he lacks the required diplomatic skills and the ability to conduct negotiations.

Waiyaki for example made Kenya shine on the African continent and not just in the East Africa Community (EAC) where it was seen as the big brother.

Prof Munene says outside the EAC, despite its capitalistic stance and friendship with Israel and the Conceptual West, Kenya became a refuge for neighbors in trouble and a champion of what Waiyaki termed ‘dynamic compromise’ in stalemated OAU conferences.

“The doctrine of ‘dynamic compromise’ ensured that Kenya was acceptable in mediating conflicting factions on the continent,” says Munene.

Andati also doubts whether Mudavadi, who is a land economist, has the required expertise to handle situations with the good sense and finesse of a diplomat, which is also mandatory for that office.

“Mudavadi is a status quo person. He would not like to rattle Uganda and Tanzania because they are our trading partners, yet the lives and property of Kenyans must take precedence over any other interests,” says Andati.

Instead of talking tough or even summoning High Commissioners representing the two countries to explain why Kenyans are being tormented, Mudavadi chose other diplomatic channels that are less effective.

The CS has been criticised for taking too long before writing a letter to his counterpart in Uganda asking for the release of Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo. The duo had been in detention for 39 days before getting their freedom last week.

Apart from Mudavadi, President William Ruto has also never commented on their well-being, when their abduction in Kampala had not only raised concern in Kenya, but across the region.

It was also embarrassing to both Mudavadi and his boss when it emerged that the two activists were only set free after former President Uhuru Kenyatta intervened. However, ministry officials insist it is a call from the President that set them free.

Despite being Kenya’s highest foreign exchange earners, nothing much has been done to support the diaspora community. It has been largely ignored apart from the foreign affairs ministry opening a diaspora affairs department.

Incidents of Kenyan youth and workers being abducted and mistreated in other countries are now happening at an alarming frequency.

Cases of Kenyans being duped and trafficked to Ukraine and Russia have also not been taken seriously, even after the victims and their families made confessions in media headlines. Until now, Mudavadi has not told Kenyans efforts being made to recover the body of a teacher killed by police in the Tanzania riots under unclear circumstances on Wednesday 29, October 2025.

The circumstances surrounding the death of the 33-year-old teacher John Okoth Ogutu and the whereabouts of his body have not been explained. He was living and working in Tanzania.

The family has made fruitless trips to the Tanzanian High Commission on Reinsurance Plaza in Nairobi. Apart from seeking answers about his death, the family also wants support to bring the body home.

Human rights groups have also raised concern about the fate of as many as 20,000 expatriate Kenyan teachers, entrepreneurs, health-workers, hoteliers, traders, bankers, engineers, and students living and working in Tanzania following threats against them.

Last week, Mudavadi, assured the country that he talked with his Tanzania counterpart, Ambassador Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, in Dar es Salaam on Thursday to guarantee the security of the Kenyans but critics argue that he needs to do more.

Speaking in his personal capacity, Irungu Houghton, the Executive Director of Amnesty International Kenya, asked the government to urgently safeguard all Kenyans currently vulnerable despite Mudavadi’s assurances.

So far, it is not clear how many Kenyans have been killed by Tanzanian police.

No statement of condemnation was raised by either Mudavadi’s office or the Department of Defense that takes charge of the country’s borders. It was also reported that a Kenyan police officer was injured by the Tanzanians.

Munene thinks Kenya passes as a weakling, because whereas all countries are able to protect their citizens interests, the inability is vivid in states that behave as if they are client states of particular master states/forces and repeatedly find themselves as victims of ‘un-peace’ elsewhere.

Kenya repeatedly gives the impression that it is a client state of some masterdstates.

Prof Naituli says there is no question Mudavadi is an extremely poor performer and but together with others in President Ruto’s government, they are all complicit in the crimes being committed against Kenyans.

Munene also raises questions as to how the government allowed Kenyan soldiers to illegally enlist as fighters in wars of countries such as the United States and Russia

The capture of Kenyan soldiers fighting for Russia in Russia’s war in Ukraine as POWs attracted unattractive questions. He says to his credit, President William Ruto tried to reach out to his friendly Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenskky, to discuss the release of the captured Kenyans.

The outcome of the discussion is yet to be known. Then there are challenges of Kenyans working and being mistreated as domestics which Kenyan authorities appear to be helpless or as if they are beholden to the master states.

This tended to link Kenya to the civil war in Sudan mainly as a conduit for RSF weapons supply reported export of Sudanese gold. Peculiarly, Kenyan elite go to the same Middle Eastern countries for medical checkups while Kenyan health services remain wanting. The impression created, therefore, was that Kenyans are alone at the mercy of external forces and should not expect much from their government.

According to Munene, recent events in Eastern Africa give the impression of abandonment, especially with the rise of dissonance involving two emerging groups; between those in power and those denied rights.

This dissonance tended to unite the rulers or the political classes in every country against their governed. They appeared united in ignoring the cries of the people. William Ruto in Kenya, Samia Suluhu in Tanzania, and Yoweri Museveni in Uganda were in a governing league of their own to support each other against domestic political challenges.

On the other side, the ruled appeared to unite against their collective ‘oppressors’ and to stand in solidarity with the human symbols of oppression in specific country. When that happened, governments appeared not to be interested in protecting their people.

Munene says Mudavadi argued like Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, when he claimed that local activists put themselves in trouble outside Kenya, because “the level of etiquette or lack thereof and insults we see in Kenya sometimes go too far.”

Thus the impression from Kenya’s power wielders was that Tanzania and Uganda were free to ‘discipline’ Kenyan activists; on the unofficial behalf of Kenyan authorities.