MPs weigh bill to reserve up to 70% of ambassador jobs for career diplomats
The Foreign Service (Amendment) Bill, 2026 would set a 70:30 split between career diplomats and outside appointees, Kenyans.co.ke reported. Career diplomats would need at least 10 years of service in the Foreign Affairs ministry.
Parliament is considering new rules on who can become a Kenyan ambassador. The Foreign Service (Amendment) Bill, 2026 sets out how ambassador posts are shared between career diplomats and people appointed from outside the diplomatic service. Under the bill, career diplomats would make up as much as 70 per cent of nominees. People recruited from outside the professional foreign service would make up no more than 30 per cent. The bill states that a nomination "shall reflect a composition of career and non-career diplomats, of which not more than seventy per cent shall represent career diplomats; and not more than thirty per cent shall represent non-career diplomats." The 70:30 rule would replace the current requirement for a "fair balance" between career diplomats and other appointees. Rules on gender, regional and other forms of diversity would remain. The bill also defines a career diplomat as someone who has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for at least 10 years. Mwingi West MP Charles…
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