The Vienna Convention on Foreign Relations states that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has permitted foreign missions in the nation to communicate directly with ministries without seeking its prior consent.
The Foreign Office's decision, announced on Wednesday, aims to increase efficiency by cutting back on red tape.
Without going via the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, missions are advised in a diplomatic letter to communicate directly with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the Government of Kenya.
MFA did point out that communication with the Ministry should be made public.
The Foreign Office will also demand that international organizations, UN agencies, and foreign missions transmit the results of their discussions with ministries within three days.
The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs (MFA) instructed that, for the sake of coordination, the missions must provide a report on the conducted discussion and action taken within three days of the meeting.
Also, the Ministry handed over to the Office of the Deputy President coordination of diplomatic engagements involving numerous ministries.
For coordination reasons, a proposal requests meetings of a cross-cutting character and involving more than one Ministry through the office of the Deputy President, according to MFA.
Performance Administration
To ensure the fulfilment of campaign promises through an outcome-based strategy, President William Ruto's Administration has committed Cabinet Secretaries to performance contracting at the same time as the realignment in collaboration between government ministries and foreign missions.
The diplomatic letter was released the day after the Cabinet met at the State House in Nairobi to discuss the evaluations of ministries, State departments, and other agencies for the FY2021/22 contracting cycle.
Ruto promoted performance management to the position of Prime Cabinet Secretary.
A public memo outlining the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting stated, in part, that this was an expectation of strengthening accountability while also enshrining productivity as the Administration's mantra.
The Ministerial Priorities adopted during the Cabinet Retreat conducted at the beginning of the year will be run throughout the Administration's first contracting cycle to achieve this goal.
