Kenya opens embassy in Qatar

By Augustine Oduor

Kenya is set to open its first embassy in Qatar next month to enhance diplomatic engagements between the two countries.

A statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry indicates plans are under way to set up the diplomatic office.

"A team of senior officials from the ministry is in Doha to finalise technical and logistical arrangements to make the embassy operational by September," read the statement.

The two countries have never had diplomatic missions, seven years after they established diplomatic relations in 2003.

President Kibaki recently appointed Mr Galma Mukhe Boru, a career diplomat, ambassador to Qatar. Boru was until his appointment Deputy Head of Mission at Kenya’s embassy in Washington DC, US.

Qatar’s oil-based economy is one of the strongest and fastest growing in the world, with a GDP of over $94 billion. The move will also bring consular services closer to Kenyans living in Qatar.

There are over 2,500 Kenyans working in the country, mainly in the hotel and aviation industries, and remit a substantial amount of foreign exchange.