Ambassador-at-large, Roving Ambassador or Special Envoy mean more or less the same
Feb 24, 2017
Political appointees have an advantage over career diplomats due to their connections to State House or the ruling party.
By Samuel Baligidde
Let me add my voice to the ongoing debate which erupted after the appointment of several ambassadors including a traditional cultural leader whose appointment was quickly changed from ‘Ambassador' to ‘Special Envoy'.
Incidentally, ‘Roving Ambassador' [which Princess Bagaya was briefly appointed to during the Amin Regime] and Sheikh Ssenyonga was under Obote II, or ‘Ambassador-at-Large' [which some countries also call ‘Special Envoy'] means the same thing: ‘special diplomatic agents'.
The late Omukama Patrick Olimi Kaboyo, Uganda's ‘Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary' to Havana during the NRM regime's early years insightfully argued that he was heir to his late father and should be addressed as only ‘H.E. the Ambassador' without the addition of ‘His Highness' to his name because as he put it he was a ‘King not a Prince'!
Political appointees have an advantage over career diplomats due to their connections to State House or the ruling party. They are more willing and able to fight institutional lethargy. Political appointees afford the President an opportunity to directly control foreign policy. Some countries prefer to work with politically-appointed ambassadors who are better connected.
Ambassadors are not automatically listened to just because they are representatives. How close an ambassador is to the centre of power can be of crucial importance. But, political-appointees come to the Foreign Service with a strong will to advance his agenda but in the process reduce the role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his professional team in guiding and managing foreign policy. Even though they have better access to the President these kinds of Ambassadors usually feel freer to circumvent Headquarters in shaping policy by using back-channels to State House.
But the problem is that as Freeman described them, political appointees are ‘diplomatic neophytes' appointed for the good of the ruling party, its leadership and to reward loyalty during political campaigns or as compensation when they lose elections; not for ability or qualifications to do the job. Over-politicisation has undermined the institutional strength of the Foreign Ministry. Young men and women join the service in the hope that they will make it up the ladder only for them to get stuck somewhere after many years of dedicated service because politicians have blocked their career pathways.
A diplomat is an official appointed by a State to conduct diplomacy with one or more states or international organizations. With proper training, career and political appointees are capable of doing the job if well-trained. The problem is uneven quality between both. Some are very good if they follow the advice of the Deputy Head of Mission who handles all aspects of diplomacy including political ones!
A briefing and debriefing session lasting a few hours before posting is not enough. The Ministry has established an in-house Institute of Diplomacy to address the professional aspects of the Diplomatic Service through conducting capacity-building courses. Nevertheless, robust academic education in diplomacy and international relations is offered at a number of universities such as Makerere, Uganda Martyrs and Nkumba Universities is still essential. To underscore the importance of professionalizing the Foreign Service the People's Republic of China has a Foreign Affairs University, a Diplomatic Institute and a Diplomatic Academy. Other major countries of the world take specialized Foreign Service training and preparation very seriously.
With the growing complexity of international affairs Ambassadors must of necessity command a high degree of diplomatic skill lack of which can cause embarrassment. Opportunities will be missed if an Ambassador is not diplomatically astute or familiar with the basic indices that help determine how issues of international politics, security or commerce, among others, which have a diplomatic dimension can be handled. Based on the ideas of bureaucratic accountability ambassadors who perform well are likely to see their tenure prolonged and subsequent career paths enhanced.
True, some people are naturally endowed with diplomatic commonsense but for effectiveness professional ones must be taught.
The writer is a former diplomat