Antony Andanje, who died early this week, was a diplomat in a class of his own. I met Andanje in September 1977 as we were enrolling for undergraduate studies at the University of Nairobi, him for a Bachelor of Arts degree and me for a Bachelor of Laws.
Because we had a common interest, we came to know each other during the orientation week. We were avid football fans but never fanatics.
He supported AFC Leopards formerly Abaluhya Football Club, and I supported Gor Mahia, the two dominating rival teams at that time.
Apart from being a fan, Tony was himself a skilled player though he did not achieve the status of the likes of Joe Masiga, that burly striker, who was also our year mate, studying Dentistry.
Tony immediately struck me as a straight shooting guy who made his point in any argument without any fear.
This would become his hallmark throughout his life. As agemates - with only one month between us - we would become comrades for many years to come.
Tony had the vital traits required in diplomacy, he was always smart and fused an aura of confidence and urgency. Tony would not miss an opportunity to talk about himself, his mother or his possessions, something that annoyed a number of colleagues, but he would always hold his ground.
After graduation, I proceeded to the School of Law for postgraduate studies and pupillage while Tony got absorbed in the public service. A year later, in October 1981, we would meet at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as young budding diplomats in one of the largest intakes which included George Olago Owuor, Mike Kinyanjui, Henry Onyango Ragen, Susanne Anguka, Martin Nguru, Jean Kimani, Mwambia Wanyambura, Leonard Ngaithe, just to mention a few. After the diplomatic training programme we were to various parts of the world with Tony to Moscow while I went to Tokyo.
But I would get to work more closely with Tony in later years especially from the beginning of 2000 when I became the Director for Political Affairs with Tony as the Head of Africa and OAU Division. With the thrust of President Moi's diplomacy on African matters, not a single day would pass without one brief or another being required in State House on African issues.
Tony was an authority and a moving dictionary on African matters. His briefs were always ready, written in very clear English, and updated regularly to take into account the ever evolving situations. Always immaculately dressed, Tony had one of the best handwritings I ever saw. His work was neat and well arranged.
As a trained diplomat, Tony consulted regularly. He would romp into my office with utmost urgency and at any time and shoot straight into the matter. He had no time for idle gossip. For Tony everything was urgent and nothing was to be postponed to the next hour or the next day.
Tony had a dedication to duty beyond comparison. Because of Moi's frequent travels across the continent, he could be called upon to accompany the Presidential delegation at any time, often at the last minute even when he was not in the original delegation. Many a time, he was co-opted into the delegation when we were already at the Airport to see the President off. Because of this, he always had a suitcase fully packed ready to move at any notice.
Investments
Together with Paul Mwaura, we became a triumvirate of high Harambee SACCO savers, guaranteeing loans for one another to enable us explore investment opportunities. Tony developed a passion for Malindi and would never miss an opportunity to talk about his investments there. Life is indeed but the pursuit of vanity.
Tony never changed even as we matured into diplomacy. Straight shooting was his hallmark.
I specifically remember Tony on three occasions in which exemplified his character. One was when we accompanied the President to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Summit meeting in Sirte, Libya in February 2002 as we prepared to transform OAU to the African Union (AU). On the last day of the summit, there was a closed-door meeting of Heads of State and Government in which they were only accompanied by two persons, in our case the Foreign Minister and the PS.
The rest of us, including the President's ADC, had to hang around, waiting indefinitely for any sign that the meeting was over to join the stampede into the Presidential motorcade which never waits for anybody. At one time in the long wait, Tony was pressed for a call. He came to me and said. "Please come and stand outside the toilets and call me out loudly should they come out when I am still inside". I found this hilarious but there was no time to laugh. As a good colleague and a friend, I obliged. As it turned out he was through in good time. But this demonstrated Tony's character of not leaving anything to chance. He had the discipline, demeanour and gait of a soldier, always on his toes.
The second occasion was in March, 2002. This was one of the rare occasions when the DPA and Head of Africa travelled outside the country together. This was permitted as an exceptional measure only because I was the rapporteur at the OAU Experts meetings to prepare the instruments to operationalise the Constitutive Act of AU and had to present the report to the Council of Ministers. Tony had to attend as Head of Africa and OAU Division. During our absence, the results of the March 9-11 Presidential elections in Zimbabwe had been announced and Robert Mugabe had been declared the winner in the controversial elections protested by the opposition and the international community.
A diplomatic blunder of monumental proportions would be made in our absence on the form and wording used in conveying HE the President's congratulatory message to Mugabe describing him as "Dear brother" in a message purportedly from the Head of State hurriedly released to the press.
"Dear Brother" messages were usually delivered to State House for the President's signature and conveyed through respective Embassies. This irregular congratulatory message was ridiculed and parodied by BBC on its Saturday morning quiz programme as key Western Embassies protested. In his address to the nation at the end of the famous KANU Delegates Conference at Kasarani on March 18, the President seized the opportunity to clarify Kenya's position on Zimbabwe. In his prepared speech he had a paragraph on the elections in Zimbabwe which went something like this;
"On the situation in Zimbabwe, the Commonwealth Observer Mission had observed that the conduct of elections did not meet international standards of free and fair elections. ........Our position therefore remains the same despite a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs apparently released by an official who was not quite in the know".
From the language alone we knew who had drafted this speech and we knew somebody's job was on the line. As I settled in the office on Tuesday morning, I received a call from Ambassador Yusuf Nzibo in Washington enquiring if I had seen the statement and if I had worked on the congratulatory message, considering that it was my work as DPA to clear all such messages, normally generated by desk officers.
He was quite relieved when I informed him that I had been out of the country for he could equally smell the coffee from across the continent. I immediately called Andanje who came to my office running in his typical style. Tony was not only aware of the background to the message but had in his folder a copy of the infamous "Dear Brother" message. Always on top of things, he was also in possession of the full speech made at Kasarani. The writing was clearly on the wall.
By Monday the following week somebody had indeed lost his job in a mini government reshuffle.
The third episode would present itself in the morning before that reshuffle. Tony did not mince his words about the competence or otherwise of that officer, lecturing him like a child on the Dos and Don’ts of diplomacy. Many of us looked down as Tony gave this officer, who was our boss, a dressing down. We wondered whether Tony was privy to some information that were not but in a radio announcement that afternoon the official had been dropped.
That was Tony Andanje, the straight shooting diplomat who did not hesitate to correct anybody at any time even if it was to do with the spelling and pronunciation of his surname, which we often got wrong.
He would later serve with dedication in New York, after me and Geneva, again after me, our busiest multilateral stations. He never failed to consult where necessary.
Due to his diligence and dedication he was recalled from retirement by President Uhuru as Kenya's Ambassador to UN - HABITAT in Nairobi until a couple of years ago.
I have lost not only a friend but a patriot and a consummate diplomat whose loyalty to his country was beyond reproach. There was not a single day that Tony missed or came to work late on any ground including illness. It therefore came to me as a shock that Tony had succumbed to illness just a week after the internment of a President he served - just like the two successors - with dedication, loyalty and distinction.
Rest in Peace, my friend. May you chat with the angels.
The writer is a retired Kenyan career diplomat.
