Former minister Njeru Githae's transfer to Vienna, Austria as envoy may have been a great relief since Foreign Affairs minister Monica Juma had recommended to President Uhuru Kenyatta to have him relieved off his duties or in least expectations, moved to Moscow.
In changes made by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, Mr Githae survived narrowly after Uhuru opted to replace former Sports Cabinet Hassan Wario with Githae in Vienna, despite recommendations to have him recalled.
Since his appointment as US ambassador to US in 2014, Githae has been fighting several allegations including bribery at the embassy. He replaced Elkana Odembo.
Last year, Kenyans living in US accused him of imposing Sh15,000 for application of Kenyan Identity Card instead of Sh4,500. But the former minister vehemently denied the claims.
“The information circulating around on social media has no basis in facts,” he said.
“The information has been manipulated to make it look like the embassy is charging more than it’s required when it comes to ID issuance but the reality is, the seemingly extra charges are those associated with logistics,” he said.
Weeks later, two Kenyans working in the embassy at Washington DC also accused Githae of forcing them to retire. Although the ambassador defended himself, the complaints may have forced the Foreign Affairs ministry to recommend his removal.
“The truth is that the people we let go, including the two gentlemen, were supposed to have retired a long time ago. In fact, Mr Asweto came here after retiring from the civil service at home so he should be enjoying his retirement benefits," he said.
And after the allegations, Uhuru replaced him with Lazarus Amayo, a son to former KANU disciplinarian Okiki Amayo. Mr Amayo was Kenyan High Commissioner to London before he was moved to New York as Nairobi's permanent representative to UN.