On Friday the 28th of March in Aula Toti, LUSDA had the privilege of hosting H.E. Fredrick L. Mawtang’a as a part of the Meeting with Diplomats series. The dialogue was led between the Ambassador and Professor Marco Massoni, professor of African politics and representative of the new Center for International and Strategic Studies (CISS).

Ambassador Mawtang’a spoke on various themes including Kenya’s history, its independence in 1963, and the establishment of bilateral relations with Italy. He also spoke about the strategic importance of Kenyan cultural diplomacy with a focus on increasing tourism and Swahili language programs in universities as it is the most widely spoken non-European language in Africa and an official language of the African Union. Finally, he spoke on the special relationship between Italy and Kenya regarding outer space diplomacy after the reopening of the Luigi Broglio Malindi Space Center in Kenya. He noted that a positive effect from its reopening is the creation of a Little Italy in Malindi where “Kenyans live like Italians and Italians live like Kenyans.”

We are sincerely grateful to Ambassador Mawtang’a and Minister Counsellor Edward Mwangi for their presence at our event today.