Mr Hillary Kyengo, who until September this year was the acting Kenya’s ambassador to Russia, was arrested last week over allegations of attempting to extort an unknown amount of money from Teachers Service Commission chief executive Nancy Macharia
Another probe has followed afterwards of illegal ammunition possession where he was found with 96 bullets, while he’s only permitted to have 24 so police needed more time to interrogate him further.
According to Kenya’s embassy to the Russian Federation, Ambassador Kyengo’s three-year tour of duty in Moscow, where he served since January 2016, ended in September and he was recalled to Foreign Affairs ministry headquarters.
Moscow is considered one of the high profile diplomatic postings in the league of Washington DC, London, Beijing, Berlin, and it is served by the country’s best and most experienced diplomats.
Mr Kyengo was also the acting chargé d’affaires in the neighbouring Ukraine, where he handled all the functions of accreditation because Kenya does not have its Embassy in Kiev.
Mr Kyengo was instrumental in establishing relations with Ukraine, with his efforts culminating in the first ever high-level Ukraine–Kenya bilateral and political consultations in Kiev, on December 1, 2016.
He also led efforts to market Kenyan tea in Russia in a campaign that sought to create and raise awareness among Russians about the quality of Kenya’s tea.
Russia is the leading buyer of tea in the world while Kenya is number one exporter of black tea.
The tea marketing campaign dubbed “Think Tea Make it Kenya” coincided with this year’s World Cup tournament in Moscow.
Prior to the Moscow posting, he served in various senior positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Trade and also in missions abroad, including stints as Deputy Head of Mission in Kenya High Commissions to Botswana, Malaysia and Somalia.
Mr Kyengo served on several desks at the ministry headquarters, including Americas & Australia, Asia, Horn of Africa, Protocol and the Great Lakes Region.
The 51-year-old envoy began his diplomatic career in the early 1990s where he served for several years as the personal assistant to the then Foreign Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka.