NAIROBI: U.S SELECTS RANNERBERGER'S SUCCESSOR



Retired Major General Scott Gration who will succeed Michael Ranneberger as the United States Ambassador to Kenya.

Michael Ranneberger is about to pack his bags off as the United States Ambassador to Kenya following the nomination of his successor by President Obama. According to a statement from the White House on Thursday indicated that the President Obama had nominated Retired Air Force Major Scott Gration - his special envoy to Sudan as his new diplomatic representative in Nairobi.Scott's elevation to the rank of ambassador now requires Senate confirmation.
Gration's diplomatic experience is thin--not a good thing for someone about to parachute into the middle of a diplomatic crisis with hundreds of thousands of lives at stake. (Most profiles of Gration emphasize that he knows about Africa by emphasizing how he was born in Congo and speaks Swahili--a language that is of course totally useful in Kenya.)
The vote was considered an accomplishment for the US administration and its special envoy, who initially came under heavy criticism for the perception that he is too soft on Khartoum."We would like to stress that his departure in no way indicates that this administration is walking away from the many challenges we still face in Sudan, particularly in Darfur," the White House statement said.
No replacement for Major General Gration has been named but the Obama administration has in recent months added to its team in Sudan, naming veteran diplomat Princeton Lyman to help the north and the south work out key remaining issues including the division of oil profits and Dane Smith, another long-time US envoy, to work on the Darfur issue.
Gration has previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel and had a stint in the United States Air Force from 1974 to 2006.Mr Ranneberger has been US representative to Kenya since July 31, 2006 . He was previously the Senior Representative on Sudan in the Bureau of African Affairs in 2006. From 2004 to 2005, he was the Africa Bureau's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. He served as Special Advisor on Sudan from 2002 to 2004. From 1999 to 2002 he was Ambassador to the Republic of Mali.
His tenure has not been without controversy. He has rubbed the government the wrong way on more than one occasion the most recent being revelations that he described Kenya as "a flourishing swamp of corruption".
The claims were contained in leaked cables released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks in November.
The controversial diplomat who never held back what he believed in had accused President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga of doing nothing to end impunity.The two principals hit back at the US envoy during their respective speeches on Jamhuri Day.The President dared the schemers to try and topple his leadership, promising they would face the full force of his administration.Mr Odinga said Kenya would not entertain people masquerading as friends during the day, but who turn into into enemies at night.
Only this month, Imenti North MP Silas Ruteere withdrew his motion to censure Mr Ranneberger after he realized that a majority of his colleagues would not back it.He wanted Parliament to censure the US envoy for allegedly meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.

Kelvin Mwangi.
Nairobi.