Right from its inception as a British colonial entity in the 1890s, what became Kenya attracted many adventurers of the American type. They included former US President Theodore Roosevelt, novelist Earnest Hemingway, and journalist Smith Hempstone. Each had 'wildness' in his veins and sought to prove his manhood in 'wild' Kenya that was seemingly similar to the American 'Wild West'.
The three thrived in being roguish in person, politics, and diplomacy. After helping to snatch an empire from Spain in the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt became president, grabbed Panama from Colombia, built the Panama Canal, decreed his own Roosevelt Corollary to supplement the Monroe Doctrine, visited Kenya to advise settlers to build a 'white man's country', and even unsuccessfully tried helping the settlers by creating an African Booker T. Washington to train 'natives' to be subservient. On his part, Hemmingway observed how the settlers behaved like royalty and advised Hempstone to prove his manhood in Africa. In the late 1950s, Hempstone was a regular reporter in the land of the Mau Mau and campaigned for George Bush to appoint him ambassador to Kenya.
Hempstone was in a special club of diplomatic outsiders becoming movers in a world of diplomacy which included journalist William Atwood and now Meg Whitman, a business executive trying her hand at diplomacy. Attwood, a Cold War troubleshooter showed his worth in Guinea by befriending Sekou Toure. He then landed in Nairobi and ensured that North Korea did not establish an embassy in Kenya simply by arranging for South Korean officials to visit Senior Chief Koinange's grave to pay their respects, which touched Mbiyu Koinange so much that the North Koreans were shown the door out of Kenya. Attwood later narrated his global diplomatic escapades in two books, The Reds and the Blacks and The Twilight Struggle: Tales of Cold War. More than two decades later, Hempstone surpassed Atwood's sense of diplomatic adventure and in his book, Rogue Ambassador, used the term 'rogue ambassador' as a badge of honour.
Initially, Hempstone intended to help Daniel arap Moi weather Congressional storms, but he quickly changed tune after the 1990 death of Foreign Affairs minister Robert Ouko. He got away with diplomatic deviations partly because the United States is not a small country. He still remained balanced between Moi and critics. His call for return to multi-party politics pleased Moi critics but Moi hardliner JJ Kamotho dismissed Hempstone as 'Nyama Choma' diplomat. He accepted Moi's 1992 election victory as he dismissed Jaramogi Odinga's and Wamalwa Kijana's surprise request for money to petition against Kenneth Matiba's FORD-Asili and Mwai Kibaki's DP legislative victories instead of petitioning against Moi's Kanu seats. As they turned against the 'opposition' and seemed to lack political focus, Hempstone advised them to organise better another time. They shortly received donations from Kamlesh Partni's political project, successfully petitioned FORD-Asili seats, and Jaramogi grabbed the Leader of the Official Opposition post from Matiba.
Hempstone left Kenya having set standards on political activism in small countries that others, before Whitman, had difficulties maintaining. Those who tried included Johnnie Carson and regime changing Michael Ranneberger who found a Maasai wife and settled in Kenya. Whitman, in contrast, practically became Kenya's ambassador to the United States and after witnessing rungu wielding Donald Trump stylish politicians attempt at electoral sabotage at Bomas, was convinced that Ruto won properly. Her statement in Eldoret about the fairness of the 2022 election made former PM Raila Odinga so angry that he threatened to have her recalled. With no capacity to order expulsions, Raila overestimated his influence and inadvertently accorded Whitman that special honour of being, like Hempstone, a 'rogue ambassador'. She appears happy to wear the rogue ambassador badge of honour. She joins Hempsone and Atwood in that exclusive club.
