By Nyang’au Araka
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Kenya’s Martin Kimani as Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.
Kimani succeeds Ghana’s Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, whom Guterres thanked for her service.
Also Read
He brings 25 years of experience in international relations, peace and security, and multilateral diplomacy spanning government, regional organisations, civil society and the private sector.
Kimani served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2020 to 2024. During Kenya’s tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from 2021 to 2022, he served as Council president in October 2021.
He also chaired the Council’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa and co-chaired its Informal Expert Group on Climate and Security in 2022.
In 2023, Kimani served as president of the executive boards of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office for Project Services.
Before his UN posting, he was Director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre and the President’s Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism from 2015 to 2020.
He previously served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme and UN-Habitat from 2012 to 2015 and as Director of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism between 2011 and 2012.
In the non-governmental sector, Kimani has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Africa Center, Executive Director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University and Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
He holds a PhD and a master’s degree in War Studies from King’s College London and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of New Hampshire.
Kimani is fluent in English and Kiswahili.
