A Kenyan parliamentary committee has recommended that the country’s embassy in Dublin be shut down as it “does not serve any significant diplomatic and economic purpose”.
The embassy on Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin, was opened in 2007. It is headed by ambassador Catherine Muigai Mwangi, who also serves as dean of the African group of ambassadors in Ireland and is active on initiatives linked to the aid and development sector.
Kenya’s defence and foreign relations parliamentary committee has proposed that the mission be closed in order to reallocate resources towards opening a consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where many Kenyans work.
Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation reported yesterday: “The severing of diplomatic ties with Ireland in favour of Saudi Arabia, the MPs added, was because Ireland was no longer a lucrative political or economic hub. Instead, they said, [Kenya] ought to join hands with the Saudis because Jeddah is ‘one of the largest economic and commercial centres in the world’.”