Mr. Elkanah Odembo
Somali Rights
Saturday, July 20, 2013
A day after hundreds of
Somalis demonstrated in front of the Kenyan Embassy in Washington, DC, Kenya
has fired its Ambassador to the United States of America, Mr. Elkanah Odembo.
Mr. Odembo, who has been Kenya’s Ambassador to the United States, was fired
altogether without any subsequent diplomatic appointment. The dismissal of Mr.
Odembo was done so abruptly that even his replacement has not been confirmed by
the Kenyan parliament.
The Kenyan Embassy in the United States
sent out a short message through its facebook and twitter handle. The message,
posted on social media networks on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, at 4:26pm, read:
“This is
to inform that H.E. Elkanah Odembo's tour of duty has come to an end as Kenya's
Ambassador to the United States. Pending the arrival of the new Head of
Mission, Ambassador Jean Kamau, Deputy Chief of Mission will act as Charge
d'Affaires, a.i.
This
sudden move has all the indications of a pressure from a campaign led by
American citizens of Somali descent to get Kenyan troops out of Somali soil and
advocate for an end to Kenyan military funding by the United States and the
European Union.
Mr. Odembo
comes from the Luo tribe of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga who was
instrumental in his appointment to the important position of Ambassador to the
United States. He also comes from the Nyanza region of Kenya, where U.S.
President Barack Obama’s father was born. A Horn of Africa Analyst put the
sudden dismissal of Mr. Odembo this way:”since the Luo are in the opposition,
Mr. Kenyatta could not trust a Luo to defend him against the determined
campaign against Kenya’s massacre in Kismayo.”
A day before
his dismissal, Ambassador Odembo spoke to a large crowd of Somali Americans who
demonstrated in front of the Kenyan Embassy to show their displeasure with the
massacre, displacement and distruction of property committed by the Kenyan
armed forces in Kismayo, Somalia. Mr. Odembo assured the protestors that their concerns
will be transmitted to the relevant Kenyan authorities. He also followed this
up with an e-mail to Somali Rights indicating that he submitted their
communication to Nairobi.
Somalis throughout the world, under the
auspices of SOMALI RIGHTS, an advocacy organization that has representatives in
America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, will conduct demonstrations across
the board. They also retained a human rights lawyer to bring to justice Uhuru
Kenyatta and his government for crimes against humanity in Kismayo.