Ambassador Gration’s statement via the US Embassy in Kenya:
It has been a great honor and a profound privilege to be a part of the U.S. State Department team for the
English: Official photograph of U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
past three years and to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and as the CEO of Team Kenya since May of 2011. However, differences with Washington regarding my leadership style and certain priorities lead me to believe that it’s now time to leave. Accordingly, I submitted my notice of resignation last Monday to the Secretary of State and to the President of the United States of America, to be effective as of 28 July 2012.
Being the U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Kenya has been a dream job for my wife and me. This assignment has been the perfect opportunity to use my deep-rooted knowledge of Kenya—its people, its language, and its culture—and my diplomatic, development, security, and humanitarian experience. Judy and I have been extremely honored to lead Team Kenya, and we wish all of you the very best as Kenya implements its constitutional reforms, holds elections next year, and proceeds with the devolution of political and economic power.
I am very proud of my 35-year career of dedicated and honorable service to our great nation, leading at all times with integrity first and the highest ethical standards. Judy and I are looking forward to returning to the work about which we are so passionate. But as we depart, we will deeply miss Kenya, the Kenyan people, our partners in the diplomatic corps, and our colleagues in the U.S. Mission. Our hearts will remain here with you and with the true friendships that will endure until death.
General Gration was a national security adviser to the Obama Presidential campaign and served as a Special Assistant to the President. He also served as the President’s Special Envoy to Sudan from March 2009 to April 2011.
On February 10, 2011, President Obama announced General Gration’s nomination to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Kenya. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 14 and sworn in on April 19, 2011.
The Cable’s Josh Rogin has the scoop:
The impending release of a highly critical report by the State Department’s Inspector General’s office prompted the sudden resignation Friday of U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration, according to administration and congressional sources.
The report was described to The Cable by multiple people briefed on its contents as one of the worst reviews of an ambassador’s performance written by the IG’s staff in several years. The bulk of the criticisms focused on Gration’s terrible relationship with embassy staff since he took over as ambassador in February 2011 following a controversial two-year stint as President Barack Obama‘s special envoy for Sudan. The report is complete, but Gration still has the opportunity to write a formal response before the report is publicly released, these sources said.
We just checked, OIG has not posted the report online as of 5:44 pm EST. We’ll be in the lookout for that one.
Related articles
- US Ambassador to Kenya Resigns (blogs.voanews.com)
- US envoy to Kenya Gration resigns (nation.co.ke)
- US Kenya envoy Gration resigns (bbc.co.uk)
- US ambassador to Kenya resigns over ‘differences’ (miamiherald.com)
So, he did his dream job for 15 months, give or take? That’s kinda sad, no?
So sad that Embassy folks are already ratting him out to the press before the IG report even got out the clearance door. And his resignation takes effect on July 28. Will be an awkward 4July that.