Putting ambassadors’ admonishment under the microscope

President Samia Suluhu Hassan took the opportunity to speak last week about our public diplomacy during the swearing-in of several ambassadors. What featured prominently for good reasons was her choice of pejorative language regarding some of our serving ambassadors that had me in a state of sadness and bemusement in equal measure.

President Hassan is plainly exasperated and hopes that her envoys get their act together. It isn’t the first time though that she has spoken out against some of her appointees. In early January 2022, during an induction seminar for ministers, a particular message struck out on the office of the president as an institution to be respected.