Kenya Embassy Ireland

Foreign Affairs  Minister Moses Wetang'ula pins the Order of the Golden Warrior medal 

on Ms. Elaine Bannon. Looking  on is the Permanent Secretary.

An Irish national working as a volunteer with a local NGO has been honoured with a prestigious State Award by the Government of Kenya.  Ms. Elaine Bannon, founder and coordinator of the Light of Maasai was awarded the Order of the Golden Warrior (OGW) by President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya on 12th December 2009 during the 46th commemoration of Kenya's independence (Jamhuri) Day.

Speaking during the handing over of the award to Ms. Bannon. Kenya's Foreign Minister Mr. Moses Wetangula said that Kenya appreciate the selfless efforts of Ms. Bannon in leaving her life of comfort in Dublin to offer humanitarian support to the people of Rombo in Loitoktok District. Minister Wetangula paid tribute to Ms. Bannon's contribution that has made tremendous positive impact to the lives of the Maasai community in Rombo particularly in promoting accessibility to quality education, water, health care and sanitation services. On receiving the award Ms. Bannon paid tribute to the Rombo community for their role which has enabled the Light of the Maasai to acquire support from the Rotary International.  Ms. Bannon also thanked her family and friends back in Ireland for their invaluable support.

Present during the decoration ceremony hosted by the Kenyan Ministerat were Mr. Thuita Mwangi, Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, H.E. Ms. Anne Barrington Ambassador of Ireland to Kenya (resident in Dar es Salaam) and Light of Maasai members Councilor Joseph Nkanoni of Rombo Ward, Mr. Elijah Kelempu and Mr. Jonathan Kipano.

For more information on the Light of Maasai please log on www.lightofmaasai.com

H.E. Catherine Muigai Mwangi visited Cork city accompanied by Kasiva Mbithi, a political officer at the Embassy from 20^th to 21^st May to promote Kenya. During her tour the Ambassador held a detailed meeting with Dr. Michael Murphy, President of University College Cork to discuss possible collaborations between the University College Cork and Kenyan Universities. She acknowledged that the college’s department of Food Science and Technology was well respected in the areas of food science and sought of ways that the University would cooperate with some of the Kenyan Universities to share knowledge.  After productive discussions, Dr. Murphy gave the Ambassador a brief tour to Stone Corridor at the College and showed her the ancient alphabet of Ogham that had been rescued and restored by the college.

The Ambassador’s next stop was at the Barry Tea factory where she was met by Mr. Tony Barry, the Managing Director and other senior officials of the company. The Ambassador was visiting the company to its continued support of Kenyan tea.  Barry’s tea buys 75 – 80% of its tea from Kenya.  Mr. Barry led the Ambassador and the other members in a brief tour of the factory and the tea tasting chambers, where the Ambassador was able to see tea consignments from different tea factories in Kenya and witness the complex process of tea tasting.  Barry’s main tea blends include, Classic, Gold, Original, Decaf and Green Tea.