US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec speaking during a past function at the embassy. [Photo: The Star]
US Ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec, on Thursday last week raised speculation that he could be on his way out of the position that he has held for the past five years.
Godec was nominated by former President Barrack Obama on September 19, 2012, and was sworn-in as Kenya's Ambassador by ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on January 16, 2013.
While celebrating Thanksgiving Day, a public holiday marked on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States , Godec said he was thankful for the 'opportunity to have served as US Ambassador to Kenya'.
"I am thankful for the opportunity to have served as US Ambassador here for the past five years and all the wonderful people of Kenya I’ve met during my stay. I am also grateful for the ongoing partnership of over 50 years between Kenya and United States," said Godec in his Thanksgiving Day message.
The statement was understood to mean that his tenure had come to the homestretch.
However, the US Nairobi embassy has sought to clear the air a week later saying that Godec 'is not leaving Kenya anytime soon'.
"Godec's term did not end in July. He has been the US ambassador to Kenya since January 2013 and remains ambassador today. Ambassador Godec, like all US ambassadors, serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States but no one has been proposed to replace him as ambassador," US Embassy spokesperson Fiona Evans said on Wednesday.
There were reports that his term expired in July and was extended following the polls.
During the August 8 and October 26 elections, NASA leaders accused him of working closely with the Jubilee government 'to maintain the status quo'.
NASA in one of its press briefings expressed concerns over Godec's perceived partiality in dealing with electoral matters.This is after on many occasions he maintained that the US would accept nothing short of a peaceful poll.
Godec was the first top official to congratulate President Uhuru Kenyatta on his re-election after the August 8 general election.