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The Embassy of Kenya |
Contact
Address: Rheinbabenallee 49, D-14199 Berlin
Tel.: (+49) 30 25 92 66 0
(+49) 30 25 92 66 11
E-mail: office@kenyaembassyberlin.de
The Ambassador
H.E. Stella Mokaya Orina
Her Excellency Stella Mokaya Orina was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to the Federal Republic of Germany on 20 March 2024. She is also concurrently accredited to Poland and the Czech Republic. A senior diplomat and accomplished legal expert, Ambassador Orina brings more than two decades of public service experience in foreign affairs, diplomacy, and international law.
Before her current appointment, Ambassador Orina served as Deputy Director General of the Kenyan Foreign Service Academy from July to November 2023, having also acted as Director-General between July 2022 and May 2023. From November 2021 to July 2022, she held the position of Deputy Director General. In these leadership roles, she was instrumental in the professionalization and strategic development of Kenya’s diplomatic training initiatives.
Between August 2019 and October 2021, she served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Kenyan Embassy in Vienna, Austria. From July 2015 to May 2019, she was Registrar of Treaties, a role in which she oversaw Kenya’s international treaty obligations. She previously headed the Legal Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 2013 to 2015, and was Assistant Director in the Ministry from 2010 to 2013.
Her international diplomatic experience also includes her posting as Second Counsellor at Kenya’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (2007–2010) and as First Secretary at the Kenyan Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2006–2007). Ambassador Orina began her government service at the Office of the Attorney General in 2000 and was seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2003 as State Counsel II. Prior to her public service career, she practiced law privately in Nairobi between 1995 and 2000.
Ambassador Orina holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (LL.B.) from the University of Nairobi (1992) and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the same institution (2004).
She is fluent in English and Kiswahili, and has basic proficiency in German and French.
Born on 3 January 1970, Ambassador Orina brings a strong legal and diplomatic foundation to her ambassadorial role.
History
Germany was the first country to recognise Kenya’s independence and both countries enjoy warm relations with one another. In 1966 President Heinrich Lübke of West Germany visited Nairobi, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Kenya in July 2011. She held talks with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The Chancellor was on a tour to launch the newly conceived 'Afrika-Konzept'.
In 2014 the Foreign Cabinet Secretary of Kenya, Amina Mohamed, met with the Cabinet Secretary of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Berlin. In the same year, Former President of Germany, Horst Köhler, led a trade delegation to Nairobi. He also held talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Germany is usually the third or fourth largest source of tourists to Kenya. Germany, unlike other European countries, has not issued advice against travel to Kenya.
The development of cooperation between the two countries is based upon several factors, including agriculture, development of the water and sanitation sectors, good governance, education, and renewable energy. With regard to trade, Germany is Kenya's third largest export market in Europe after the UK and the Netherlands.
