Mbugua Martin Kimani (born 1971) is a Kenyan government official and diplomat. He has served as Kenya's Permanent Representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

since December 2020. He previously served as the Director of the

National Counter Terrorism Centre The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was a proposed federal anti-terror agency to be created in India, modelled on the National Counterterrorism Center of the US. The proposal arose after the 2008 Mumbai attacks 26/11 attacks where se ...

and as a

Special Envoy Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

for Countering Violent Extremism in Kenya.

Early life

Kimani was born in 1971 in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

. Kimani has a bachelor's degree from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

(1996). He has a master's degree (2003) and a PhD (2013) in War Studies from King's College London,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He wrote his master's thesis on oil marketing in Kenya. His PhD thesis was about the role of

Christian symbolism Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by be ...

, the Catholic Church, and racialism in the 1994

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

Career

Previous roles

Kimani has worked in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, and New York City and has been employed by the

United Nations Human Settlements Programme The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settle ...

and the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

. He was an Associate Fellow at the Conflict, Security & Development Group at King’s College London. From April 2011 to December 2012, Kimani was the Director of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism in Ethiopia. Kimani was Kenya's Permanent Representative to the

, serving from December 2020 to May 2024. He was president of the United Nations Security Council for October 2021.

Current roles

Kimani was appointed President and CEO of The Africa Center in New York City in 2025. Kimani is the Kenyan Presidential Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism, and was appointed as the Director of Kenya's National Counter Terrorism Centre in 2015. He became the secretary for the Building Bridges Initiative in December 2018.

22 February 2022 speech

Kimani delivered a speech to the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

on 22 February 2022, in which he criticised Russia's recognition of separatist-held areas of Ukraine, and drew comparisons between the borders of Europe and those of Africa, saying:

"This situation echoes our history. Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing (...). Today, across the border of every single African country, live our countrymen with whom we share deep (...) bonds. At independence, had we chosen to pursue states at the basis of ethnic, racial or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later. Instead, we agreed that we would settle on the borders that we inherited (...), rather than form nations that looked ever backward into history with a dangerous nostalgia, we chose to look forward (...). We believe that all states formed from empires that have collapsed or retreated, have many peoples in them yearning for integration with peoples in neighbouring states. This is normal and understandable. (...) However, Kenya rejects such a yearning from being pursued ''by force'' (...). We rejected irredentism and expansionism on any basis (...), we reject it again today."

The speech went viral on social media.

Writing

Kimani's writing has been published in ''

Chimurenga ''Chimurenga'' is a word in Shona. The Ndebele equivalent is not as widely used since most Zimbabweans speak Shona; it is ''Umvukela'', meaning "revolutionary struggle" or uprising. In specific historical terms, it also refers to the Ndebele ...

'', ''

Farafina Farafina is a music and dance group from Burkina Faso, established in 1978. The eight-member group is Burkina Faso's best known musical group, and one of Africa's most internationally prominent musical groups. The official website of the band a ...

'', ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'', ''

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

'', ''Kwani'', ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

'', and ''

The East African ''The EastAfrican'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kenya since 7 November 1994, by the Nation Media Group, which also publishes Kenya's national ''Daily Nation''. The ''EastAfrican'' also circulates in the other countries of the African Grea ...

,'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. His book ''The Work of War'' was published by

Granta Books ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

online.

Awards and fellowships

Kimani was awarded the honour of

Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear Orders, decorations, and medals of Kenya are awarded by the President of Kenya "in recognition of outstanding or distinguished services rendered to the nation in various capacities and responsibilities". Awards are made by the president upon the ...

by the

President of Kenya The president of the Republic of Kenya () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Kenya. The president is also the head of the executive branch of the Government of Kenya and is the commander-in-chief of the Kenya De ...

in 2016. Kimani is a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and of the Africa Leadership Initiative. In 2013, Kimani was a Distinguished African Visiting Fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Family life

Kimani and his wife June Arunga Kimani have two children.

References

External links

Kimani's articles in ''The Guardian''
* {{authority control 1971 births Living people Alumni of King's College London 21st-century Kenyan writers Kenyan male writers Kenyan non-fiction writers People from Mombasa Permanent representatives of Kenya to the United Nations University of New Hampshire alumni

Early life

Career

Previous roles

Current roles

22 February 2022 speech

Writing

Awards and fellowships

Family life

See also

References

External links