United States ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger. Photo/FILE
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki Wednesday bade farewell to outgoing US ambassador Michael Ranneberger.
The ceremony took place at President Kibaki's Harambee House office in Nairobi.
President Kibaki conveyed his best wishes to Mr Ranneberger in his future endeavours.
Mr Ranneberger, who was on a tour of duty in Kenya for five years, had a love-hate relationship with the country's high and mighty.
At some point last year, some Kenya's MPs, majority allied to President Kibaki, demanded his expulsion for allegedly undermining the country's sovereignty.
A personal friend
The leaked secret diplomatic cables between the US envoy and his superiors in Washington, which painted Kenyan leadership in bad light, did much to widen the rift between Mr Ranneberger and his Kenyan political adversaries.
US President Barack Obama has named retired Air Force Major General Scott Gration as the next ambassador to Kenya.
Maj Gen Gration, a fluent Kiswahili speaker, is well acquainted with Kenya, having lived in the country as a child and having later worked for two years as an instructor of Kenyan Air Force fighter pilots.
He also accompanied then-Senator Obama on a one-week visit to Kenya in 2006.
Maj Gen Gration, 59, is a personal friend of Mr Obama's who enjoys the President's confidence and will probably continue to have ready access to the Oval Office.
Many are waiting anxiously to see the kind of working relationship Maj Gen Gration will have with Kenya's leading political players.
