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Professional body backs Bill granting career diplomats lion’s share of envoy jobs
President William Ruto speaks during the opening of the 19th Ambassadors Conference at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on March 28, 2026.
What you need to know:
- Currently, the Foreign Service Act has no parameters on the appointment of non-career appointees.
- The current laws do not list heads of missions as state officers, although the Act requires them to be Kenyans.
The International Relations Society of Kenya (IRSK) is backing proposals on a law that could ensure career diplomats get the lion's share of postings to the country’s foreign missions.
The IRSK, which includes professionals foreign service, said the proposals in the draft Foreign Service (Amendment) Bill, 2026 were a “timely and much-needed step” toward strengthening professionalism and merit-based practice in Kenya’s diplomatic representation.
The draft piece of legislation is sponsored by Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna and has proposed amendments to section 20 of the Foreign Service Act in order to ensure that career diplomats get a bigger number of the positions in Kenya’s foreign missions.
He proposed that career diplomats take not more than 70 percent of all the postings, with those outside of the foreign service to be capped at the remaining 30 per cent.
President William Ruto with the Chargé d’Affaires for the US Embassy Susan M. Burns (centre) and National Security Advisor to the President, Monica Juma during the New Year Diplomatic Briefing at State House, Nairobi on February 9, 2026.
Currently, the Foreign Service Act has no parameters on the appointment of non-career appointees, including technocrats from other fields or politicians rejected by the electorate. Due to this lacuna, ambassadorial roles have become a dumping ground for political rejects.
The Bill also provides that the office of the high Commissioner, ambassador, diplomatic or consular representative shall be a State office in line with Article 260 of the constitution. The current laws do not list heads of missions as state officers, although the Act requires them to be Kenyans.
“The Foreign Service (Amendment) Bill, 2026 is a timely and much-needed step toward strengthening professionalism and merit-based practice in Kenya’s diplomatic representation, and urges Parliament to table it for discussion,” the body said in a statement.
In Kenya, the tradition has also been that most of the politicians rejected at the ballot have over the years been given these jobs as soft landing grounds by the government of the day.
Some of these politicians don’t understand diplomacy and the country has ended up with persons who cannot articulate their foreign policy.
However, the new proposals if adopted by the House and assented into law by the President will offer a significant shift to this trend.
According to the International Relations Society of Kenya (IRSK) which is a professional body for international affairs, the proposed legislation will strengthen professionalism and merit-based practice in Kenya’s diplomatic representation.
According to the professional outfit, the proposed legislation offers a concrete opportunity to elevate professionalism, improve Kenya’s international representation, and anchor ambassadorial appointments more firmly in national interest.
President William Ruto poses for a group photo with Kenya’s Ambassadors and High Commissioners at State House, Nairobi on January 20, 2026.
“Establishing a clearer statutory ratio would embed transparency, predictability, and accountability in the appointment process, while strengthening the standing of diplomacy as a professional career path,” the IRSK says.
The professional body notes that contemporary diplomacy requires a high degree of competence, institutional memory, and specialized expertise across a wide range of strategic fields, including security, trade, multilateral engagement, and regional cooperation.
In this context, the IRSK supports a framework that prioritises merit, expertise, and national interest over political expediency in Kenya’s top diplomatic postings.
It pointed out that the current legal requirement of a “fair balance” has been subject to wide interpretation with varying outcomes.
It called on the lawmakers to hasten the process of consideration of the proposal for the sake of career diplomats who value professionalism.
“We hope the Bill, once tabled and debated, will receive broad support from career diplomats, foreign policy experts, and citizens who value effective international representation,”
Having been cleared by the committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations, the proposed legislation will now be published into a Bill ready for introduction for first reading in the House.
The National Assembly will then undertake public participation in line with Article 118 of the constitution before the Bill is brought back to the House for debate in the second reading.
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