KENYAN APPOINTED EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Fifty nine year old Zachary Muburi Muita has
been appointed the Executive Secretary of the
International Conference on the Great Lakes
Region (ICGLR).
Muita has served in various diplomatic,
political and civil-military positions. His last
position was at the Middle East division at the
ministry foreign affairs headquarters in
Nairobi.

The ICGLR announcement was made when
President Uhuru Kenyatta is in Luanda, Angola
attending the 6th Ordinary Summit
ICGLR. The Summit’s theme is: “Accelerating
the effective implementation of the Pact and
its Protocols for a more democratic and stable
Great Lakes Region”.
In November 2014, Muita then the director of
Diaspora Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade, was moved to the Middle
East division at the ministry headquarters in
Nairobi only one year after he was appointed
the Diaspora Affairs director.
The appointment was unanimously approved
by the Heads of State and Government during
the Tuesday 14th, June, 2016 session of the
6th ordinary Summit of the ICGLR. This
comes after Monday 13th June, 2016
announcement that the Foreign Ministers of
the ICGLR had reaffirmed their nomination of
the Ambassador.

In August 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon appointed Muita as the Head of the UN
Office to the African Union which was
established by the General Assembly on
1 July 2010. Before the UN
appointment, Muita had served as Kenya’s
Permanent Representative to the UN in New
York.
Muita has previously served in numerous
roles, including as Kenya’s High Commissioner
to the United Republic of Tanzania, and
previously Principal Counsellor at the Kenya
Embassy in Israel, Head of the Middle East
Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Head of the Americas Division, Senior
Assistant Secretary and Acting Head of the
Asia and Australasia Division.
He has also served in various capacities in
Kenya’s missions abroad, including in the
Netherlands and the Sudan. Between 1998
and 2001, he was seconded to the faculty of
the National Defense College.
Muita attended the University of Nairobi, the
University of Khartoum and Oxford University.
Mr. Muburi-Muita was born in 1957 and is
married with three children.

Kenyatta thanked the ICGLR member states
for supporting Kenya’s candidate. He added
that Muita’s experience would steer the
Secretariat to greater heights. Muita takes
over from the DRC’s Professor Ntumba Luaba
who had held the position since 2011.
The ICGLR is a regional inter-governmental
organisation whose 12 member states are
Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda,
Angola, South Sudan, the Central African
Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Congo, Sudan and Zambia.
It was formed in recognition of the need for
states in the Great Lakes region to work
together for sustainable peace and
development.
Kenyatta also held talks Angola President
José Eduardo dos Santos. They focused on
the rapidly growing trade and bilateral
cooperation between the two nations, both
ranked among Africa’s strongest
economies. On the agenda was the easing of
barriers to trade and business between Kenya
and Angola.

The two Presidents have considered easing
the visa regime to ensure that Kenyans have
improved access to Angola’s markets, and, in
return, that Angola’s private sector can make
the most of the opportunities that Kenya
offers. Under Kenya’s progressive visa regime,
Angolans can already access visas on arrival
at a Kenyan port.
After the ICGLR Heads of Government and
State Summit that ends on Tuesday, Kenyatta
will travel to Brussels, Belgium, at the
invitation of Prime Minister Charles Michel.
In Belgium, the President is expected to hold
meetings with both Prime Minister Michel and
His Majesty King Phillipe.