President Uhuru Kenyatta on May 5 bid farewell to Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya Meles Alem Tekea at State House Nairobi/
President Kenyatta commended Ambassador Alem for working to enhance the bilateral relations between Kenya and Ethiopia, which he said grew by leaps and bounds during his tour of duty.
On his part, Ambassador Meles thanked President Kenyatta for his support that ensured his work and stay in Kenya was fruitful. Present were Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo.
Meles will be succeeded by General Bacha Debele who has been the face of the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front as the new ambassador to Kenya.
Meles is a career diplomat who had served in Nairobi since 2019, having started at the station in a junior capacity.
While the Ambassador had a good run at the start of his term, this changed in November 2020 with the outbreak of the Tigray war.
He appeared to be sidelined, and was conspicuously missing when Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited for the inauguration of the One-Stop Border Post at Moyale and the highway connecting- Addis Ababa with Nairobi and Mombasa.
Abiy and Uhuru also supervised the Lamu South-Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Corridor Projec
