Economic Logistics

THE government yesterday issued a warning to members of the diplomatic corps against issuing public statements on matters concerning Kenya’s internal affairs without consultations.

Government spokesperson Alfred Mutua said it had become a habit for diplomats to summon the media whenever they had issues with the government which amounted to interference and led to misinterpretation of the intended message.

“Some donors have made a habit of calling Press conferences even before they have communicated with the government,” noted Mutua, describing the trend as “rude and demeaning.”

European Union’s head of delegation, Mr Eric Van der Linden’s recently gave an ultimatum to the President to assent to the Procurement Bill or lose monetary support from Western donors.

The government subsequently presented Van der Linden with a protest note, which described the envoy’s action as ‘rude, illegal, undiplomatic and colonial.’

Observed Mutua: “It runs counter to every principle of diplomatic etiquette for a diplomat to issue threats to the very person to whom he is accredited. He should observe the Vienna Convention on diplomatic etiquette.”

He explained that the Clerk of the National Assembly had communicated the Procurement Bill to the Attorney General on Tuesday after it was passed in Parliament and he would in turn present it to President Kibaki for assent.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Procurement, Africa, Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.