The Kenyan Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has distanced itself from Kenyans stuck in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.
A report by People Daily on Wednesday, August 18, indicated that the Ministry of Affairs did not have diplomatic relations with the Middle East nation.
According to the publication, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau asked the stranded Kenyans to contact their employers to facilitate their repatriation.
The PS further noted that Afghanistan had suffered instability and the state did not expect any Kenyans to fly to the country.
“Firstly, Kenya has neither diplomatic presence nor accreditation to Afghanistan. Secondly, the country has been unstable for a long while and we do not expect our Kenyans to have gone to this country,” read a statement from the PS.
The PS further confirmed that the state received an evacuation request from one Kenyan who was caught up in the melee.
“We have one evacuation request from a person working for IDLO in Afghanistan, which ideally we believe the organisation should take responsibility. We sent a letter to IDLO country office and their headquarters in Rome concerning the one case we received," added the PS.
"We are following up to find out if there are known Kenyans stranded through our High Commission in Pakistan... (There) might also be some contractors of private companies in the Security area. We hope they will be taken care of by their own contractors.”
Kenyans.co.ke had earlier sought to understand if Kenya was ready to host some of the refugees from the war-torn country, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred us to the Ministry of Interior who did not confirm.
When contacted, Government Spokesperson, Col. Cyrus Oguna, confirmed that Kenya was yet to be contacted by the United States to accommodate some refugees.
"When we are contacted, we will be able to provide an appropriate response. Right now, we have not been contacted. (When contacted, the request) will be reviewed based on circumstances at the time," Oguna told Kenyans.co.ke.
Uganda has already agreed to host 2,000 refugees, following a conversation between President Yoweri Museveni and his US counterpart, Joe Biden.
Video clips from Afghanistan showed panic exits among residents and foreigners minutes after reports that the Taliban had taken control of the capital, Kabul.
Kenya's trade with Afghanistan has been dwindling over the years as the conflict became more aggressive shrinking from Ksh14 billion in 2012 to Ksh3.6 billion in 2020.
