Foreign Service Academy starts Pre-deployment training for diplomats
The Foreign Service Academy has commenced a three-week pre-departure training programme for newly posted Heads of Missions and Foreign Service Officers ahead of their deployment to various Kenyan diplomatic missions abroad.
During the opening ceremony, Acting Director-General Ambassador Patrick Wamoto urged the officers to remain adaptive, strategic, and results-oriented, noting that they are being deployed at a time when diplomacy has become increasingly complex in a rapidly evolving global environment marked by shifting geopolitical alliances, intensified competition among major powers, and growing pressure on the rules-based international order. .
Ambassador Wamoto said the quality of a country’s diplomacy directly determines the quality of its national outcomes, stressing that modern diplomacy must move beyond representation and focus on delivering tangible benefits for citizens.
He urged the officers to pursue results-based diplomacy aimed at securing agreements that advance Kenya’s economic and strategic interests, strengthen bilateral and multilateral partnerships, and expand opportunities in trade, investment, technology, and development cooperation.
The Acting Director-General further stressed the need for diplomats to safeguard Kenya’s interests in international forums, including the United Nations system, the African Union, and other global institutions that shape international policy and governance.
The programme also features expert-led sessions designed to strengthen policy understanding and strategic thinking among the diplomats.
Mustapha Ibrahim, Deputy Director-General and Head of the Policy, Research and Strategic Analysis Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign & Diaspora Affairs , took participants through the principles, priorities, and practice of Kenya’s diplomacy. He underscored results-based diplomacy anchored on the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda and the “Singapore Vision” of national development.
Professor Peter Kagwanja also led a session on the evolution of the Kenyan state, focusing on independence, institution-building, and development, and how these have shaped Kenya’s foreign policy and national identity.
The training further covers economic diplomacy, consular services, crisis response, protocol, strategic communication, diaspora engagement, climate diplomacy, and emerging issues such as digital governance and artificial intelligence among others. The programme is designed to prepare officers with the knowledge and skills to effectively promote Kenya’s interests on the international stage. Among the participants are Kosiom Frank Ole Kibelekenya Kenya’s new Ambassador to Copenhagen, in the Kingdom of Denmark and Dr. Julius Murori Mbijiwe, PhD, Kenya Ambassador to the Vatican.