Kenya has over 24 embassies and 17 consulates spread all over the world which are run and operated like small but very powerful countries with their relevant ambassadors and High Commissioners acting as presidents.
Kenya has title deeds to almost all countries they have an embassy.
To prove how Kenyan embassies abroad are so cogent, all diplomats who are commissioned to represent the country in foreign countries enjoy maximum immunity. This protects them against prosecution in the host states for the entire period in which they hold their diplomatic post.
For instance, the United Kingdom (UK) is not permitted to prosecute Kenyan diplomats deployed in London. They are required to offer protection to the families of all Kenyan diplomats, along with their families and property.
This is to allow them to carry out their duties and represent the country without any hindrance in their receiving state. The embassies are so much powerful that even the police from the receiving countries cannot storm into the chancery.
The rules which Kenya has adopted to guard their embassies are drawn from the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. This established the rule of inviolability.
The rules state that local police and security forces are not permitted to enter premises unless they have express permission of the ambassador - even though the embassy remains the territory of the host nation.
The convection that is fully enforced by Kenyan embassies is regarded as a basic prerequisite for diplomatic relations.
"Embassies are privileged areas. The local authorities have no rights to enter," the convention reads in part.
These agreements are vital to international relations. This explains why if anything happens to a Kenyan citizen abroad, they are advised to go to the Kenyan embassy in that particular country.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners represent the head of state in a foreign country. Like in UK, Manoah Esipisu represents President Uhuru Kenyatta, while Jane Marriott represents Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Nairobi.
Ambassadors work with 'cabinets' compromising of envoys, ministers plenipotentiary, and other representatives who are accredited to the host heads of state; and chargés d’affaires, who are accredited to the foreign minister of the host country.
An ambassador is like a spokesperson of the country. He plays an important part in making the views of his government understood, and his firsthand knowledge of the country to which he is accredited may enable him to influence his government’s policy decisively.
Their position is so influential that their appointment follows laid down procedures enshrined in the constitution.
Other than representing the country, Kenyan embassies sponsor events that are meant to promote the country's different beliefs. They also account for Kenyan citizens abroad.
For example, in the case of Kenyan nurses who are set to join the UK workforce, Esipisu is consulted to ensure that they smoothly transition into the new system with ease. Also, for students who get scholarships abroad, in one way or another, the embassies must be informed.
In case of political animosity, the ambassador holds dialogue with the receiving nation before the President is called in to extend the dialogue.
Under ambassadors, other powerful individuals are tasked with different duties.
Economic officers: They work collaboratively with foreign governments to secure internet freedom, fund scientific advances, protect the environment, or negotiate new trade laws.
Political officers: They inform the ambassador on political events and changes taking place in the country.
Management officers: They are responsible for embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission operations from real estate to people to budget.
Public Diplomacy Officers: They build mutual understanding between nations and even citizens in the receiving countries.
