Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary has passionately defended Kenya’s Ambassador to China Sarah Serem.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Kamau said Ambassador Serem “has done a fantastic job through very difficult times in China and no Kenyan has died in China so far”.
“I mean seriously, if we have an ambassador who has shown herself to be dedicated and outstanding, anybody who has followed her on social media, I am sorry, you cannot fault that lady for the work she has done for Kenyans,” Kamau said at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters.
A look at her social media doesn’t show much communication, other than sharing of other agencies’ communication.
Serem has been under fire from Kenyans — in the country and diaspora — for her silence and inaction as Kenyans are allegedly mistreated in China.
According to a Citizen TV report last Thursday, Kenyans are among Africans who have been ejected from their houses in Beijing and Guangzhou, refused access to the public transport system as well as entry into hotels.
A Kenyan who anonymously spoke to Citizen TV said she slept outside the Kenyan embassy for two days without getting help, with mission officials only telling her to go to a police station. The police said they would not help.
The woman said many Africans are facing the same problems, noting there are two pregnant women who cannot access hospitals.
But in his defence of Serem, Kamau blamed Kenyans living in China for their own suffering, accusing them of failing to register with the embassy.
“If people turn up when they have been evicted, and rock up at the embassy when it is under lockdown, and then we have to figure out how to reach them, you tell me how that situation is going to play out,” Kamau posed.
He added that Serem has shown herself to be “very resilient right through the crisis”.
He told Kenyans in the diaspora that although they have been ejected and they don’t know where the next meal will come from, they should be understanding.
“It is not fair to blame the ambassador or anybody else in the mission. In fact, you should be asking for help, not apportioning blame,” he said.
Kamau also said Kenya will not evacuate its citizens.
This comes despite various leaders, among them ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, urging the government to come clear on the plight of Kenyans stuck in other countries, amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Mudavadi on Sunday told the government to evacuate Kenyans stuck in China, which is experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Guangzhou Province.
He further accused the government of not being responsive in addressing the problems of Kenyans in China, whom he said face racial discrimination.
