For years on end, Kenya has remained the most politically stable, most economically vibrant as well as the largest economy in Eastern Africa.

Kenya’s governance, human rights, democratic and international credentials have remained above her peers in the region, making it the region’s darling of the West. It was on this note that excitement must have reverberated across the country last week when Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua made a disclosure of the impending changes in the country’s foreign policy strategy.

Gachagua’s revelations that Kenya’s envoys will soon sign two -year renewable contracts with the requirement for them to devote 70 per cent of their assignments to marketing Kenyan products is welcome.

Gachagua said under the proposed strategy, the country’s envoys will have to refocus their commitments to economic diplomacy, with the marketing of local cash crops such as tea, coffee and horticultural products being key as the government races against time to create employment opportunities as well as increase foreign exchange earnings.

The requirement for those appointed to diplomatic positions to sign performance contracts, would obviously not only infuse professionalism into a sector that has largely been turned into a soft landing pad for political rejects, but would also restore the lost glory in the appointments.

Diplomatic appointments have been used by the executive to appease their financiers and supporters who failed to capture political seats during elections and as a reward for families, relatives and friends of those in power.

The allure that followed one being appointed to head powerful missions such as those in Washington DC, Geneva, London, New York, the African Union and Brussels among others has long disappeared as merit and professionalism has been thrown through the window.

Cases abound where persons with little background in geopolitics have been mandated to handle crucial foreign policy decisions, a move that has cost the country dearly when the need arises for Kenya to lobby for positions in international organisations. The proposed policy must therefore stipulate clear guidelines on diplomatic appointments, which the executive must adhere to in letter and spirit.

According to experts in international relations, this has not only appeared to clip the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ wings, but has also upended an old tradition in which the Foreign ministry has been central to coordinating engagements based on the Vienna Conventions of 1961 and 1963 on diplomatic and consular relations.