Kenya's diplomatic community is in mourning following the death of veteran ambassador Boaz Mbaya.
Mbaya passed away on the morning of Sunday, June 22, with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi confirming his death in a heartfelt statement.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Amb. Boaz Mbaya this morning. The Valogooli community has lost a towering civic leader and mentor,” the Prime CS said in a statement.
He added, “I have lost a dear friend and political confidante. The bond we shared was rooted in mutual respect and unwavering trust. I fondly recall our exchange of ideas when he led the Former and Retired Ambassadors Association of Kenya (FRAA) to my office in October 2024.
Boaz Mbaya was one of the more distinguished names in ambassadorial roles in the country, having served in ambassadorial roles for nearly four decades.
As Kenya’s ambassador, he is known to have represented Kenya in countries including France, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
More notably, Mbaya also held a position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served as the Permanent Secretary. In this role, he was an integral figure in shaping the country’s foreign policy.
Following his retirement, he remained active in public affairs and was the chair of the Former and Retired Ambassadors Association of Kenya (FRAA), where fellow brilliant minds in public policy met for policy analysis.
In 2019, the former ambassador put his decades of knowledge into a book titled Kenya’s Foreign Policy and Diplomacy: Evolution, Challenges and Opportunities. In this book, he traced Kenya’s diplomatic journey from when the country gained independence to the modern-day context as he offered insights into the country’s changing diplomatic landscape.
The book also analysed the diplomatic ramifications of the 2007-08 post-election violence, which saw former President Uhuru Kenyatta and current Head of State William Ruto indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity.
In the book, Boaz brilliantly broke down how Kenya, through the then Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed, launched a shuttle diplomacy across Africa to build support within the African Union to contest the ICC process, amid claims of excessive influence from the West.
One of Mbaya’s latest assignments before his death was when he took up a role as a key strategist for ODM leader Raila Odinga in his bid to become the chairperson of the African Union Commission.
