Kenya Stockholm Blog

A Brief Look-Back At Kenya Embassy In Stockhom – Part One

When I took contact with the First secretary, Mr. Daniel Kottut to ask him to question authorities here why a non Kenyan was about to be deported to Kenya using a Kenyan passport, Kottut sounded scared about something I did not know. He could not even speak properly.

An agent later told me that there is a general belief among top Embassy staff that when I call, anything they say can be used at the blog. For this reason, they either become jittery or avoid my phones altogether.

This was not the case with Mr. Julius Mwandembo, James Kiboi or even George Kinyua, all former First secretaries. Mwandembo got a safe landing because he got a good introduction to Kenyans in Stockholm by Mr. Francis Mwongo, a security officer posing as a diplomat.

During his days, Mwongo was seen by Kenyans in Stockholm as the link between the Kenyan community and the Embassy. He was very social and despite his “security profile” many Kenyans accepted him at functions without any ugly scenes. In fact, only the more advanced layers of the Kenyan community knew that Mwongo was part of the Kenya external security apparatus.

Mwongo was very close to Mr. Clay Onyango in them days and when he was recalled to pave way for Mwandembo, he held his farewell party at Clay’s residence in Tensta. Although Mwandembo adopted quickly to his new environment and managed to penetrate even further into the Kenyan community, he did not inherit close contacts he had been introduced to by Mwongo. For this reason, both Clay and Mwandembo did not develop the kind of rapport Mwongo enjoyed with Clay.

Mwandembo chose to develop his own independent contacts, sometimes burning his fingers on the way but getting along anyway. Although Mwongo chose functions he attended carefully, Mwandembo had no such limitations and went almost everywhere.

At times, this demeanor landed him into problems with other Embassy staff members especially when some sensitive information about the Embassy was published in KUWA Bulletin which I was editing. He was always suspected “because he was the one who was always with Wakenya”, an Embassy contact once told me. Mwandembo was recalled and after some time, James Kiboi arrived.

The situation with Kiboi was a bit different. It is rumored that Kiboi was posted to Stockholm to get him away from Nairobi because after he finished his stint at the Somali Peace Talks, he had to be promoted and there was no immediate post for him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He had already served as a diplomat in Ethiopia and if he had to be transferred to another Embassy, he needed to be promoted as an Ambassador.

The problem is that there was no immediate solution to his promotion so he was dumped in Stockholm as he awaited for the situation to develop. Mukiri Kinyanjui was the Ambassador in Stockholm and when Kiboi was posted here, it appears like he had some special powers because the Ambassador reportedly could not tell him what to do.

When he started mingling with Kenyans, he was allegedly warned by Embassy staff to be careful with Wakenya but he brushed aside the warning, arguing that he had dealt with tough Somalis who were shooting themselves and brought them to negotiate therefore there is no Kenyan he could not deal with regardless of their political affiliations. Kiboi was also tough because he knew that he had been posted to Stockholm to prevent his promotion in Nairobi so he did not listen very much to advice from Embassy staff including Ambassador Kinyanjui.

Kinyanjui took it very easy with him because he understood the complications. Kinyanjui came to grips with the frustrations Kiboi was undergoing and gave him a lot of space. In the cause of his work, Kiboi used to go to missions which were reserved for the Ambassador and Kinyua knows this. When they went to Eskilstuna one day with Kinyua to preside over a function in which KESFA (Kenya Swedish Friendship Association) was also involved, it is Kiboi who took center stage as Ambassador Kinyanjui cooled own.

Within a very short period after his arrival in Stockholm, Kiboi was already mobilizing a group of Kenyans in Denmark to try and organize them as a community, much like an Ambassador. At the Embassy, it is mainly the Ambassador who normally has the privilege of maintaining a gardener. But when Kiboi arrived in Stockholm, Njenga Muirani, the Ambassador’s gardener, had his duties extended to cover Kiboi’s residence which was, by then, too bushy that the neighbors began to complain.

When Ambassador Purity was posted to Stockholm, she sacked Njenga and later refused to pay him 10.000 kr for work the Kenyan did at Kiboi’s residence. Njenga was to be paid on a Monday but Kiboi died on a Sunday. Up to date, it is not known where Njenga’s money went because the Ambassador does not know.

Just like Mwandembo, Kiboi broke from tradition at the Embassy “ya kuogopa Wakenya” (fearing Kenyans) to mingle with anybody. To appreciate the seniority of Mr. Kiboi at the Embassy, he is the only diplomat (apart from the Ambassador) who was assigned a Benz car. At the time of his death in Norway, Kiboi had gained recognition among Wakenya here as a down to earth diplomat. Because of the power he wielded, Kiboi goes down in history as the only diplomat who was replaced by his wife (albeit in a different capacity) at the Embassy following his death.

Kiboi broke diplomatic rules at will to strengthen his relationship with Wakenya and when Narc-Kenya Scandinavia was being set up, Kiboi was the guy who led Beth Mugo and company to Mwaura’s residence in Alby to help set up the Party.

By accepting to be part of a political Party in Stockholm, Kiboi was breaking Kenya diplomatic etiquette that prevents diplomats from openly taking sides politically. Nobody knows what could have happened if he continued working at the Embassy because he died.

Then, Mr. George Kinyua entered the scene with a totally different design. In our next installment, we examine Kinyua’s strategy, the mystery surrounding his transfer and conclude with the dilemma facing Daniel Kottut who is increasingly becoming a prisoner at the Embassy.

Okoth Osewe

July 7, 2008 Posted by makozewe | Uncategorized | Leave a Comment