When US envoy to Kenya Scott Gration — who resigned on Friday last week —cited differences with Washington over leadership style, analysts linked his statement to a report said to have been issued recently by an audit unit of the US government charged with evaluating the performance of its diplomatic missions.

Analysts believe the embassy scored poorly on two of the three key areas it is measured by, namely democracy, defence and development, with Gration said to have given more attention to development projects at the expense of regional security and managing US’ interests in Kenya’s internal politics.

Mr Gration had also not been able to engage the Kenya government effectively on critical issues compared with his predecessor, Michael Ranneberger, sources said.

Among embassy staff, Gration was viewed as aloof, inflexible and a micro-manager, possibly a reflection of his top-brass military background. The transition from Ranneberger to a new ambassador was always bound to be challenging for embassy employees since Gration’s predecessor had a distinctly different style.

His exit is likely to lead to speculation that the US wants somebody who will engage more with the Kenyan leadership as the country approaches the crucial 2013 elections. General Gration’s background as a military man, sources said, did not lend itself to engaging in local politics.

Apart from being viewed by his team as strict and reserved, his attempts to restructure the reporting lines established by his predecessor met with some resistance. Some grumble that his insistence on hierarchy and procedure slowed down decision-making at the embassy as junior staff made few decisions without the approval of their superiors.

The resignation brings into the spotlight the relations between Washington and its envoys abroad, especially as the US pushes to enlarge its influence in key regions of Africa. For instance, the US unveiled a strategy paper three weeks ago — a strategy supposed to be implemented by its envoys abroad — describing Africa as “the next major economic success story.” The paper also underscored the increased attention the continent has been receiving in the wake of financial and economic crises that have hit North America and Europe, and as the booming BRIC economies — Brazil, India, China and Russia — begin to slow down.

Gration’s exit also came at a time Kenya’s ruling coalition is sharply divided over US warnings of a possible terrorist attack in Mombasa, with a section of the government reading it as an act of economic sabotage. He will be leaving on July 28.

General Gration, who started his Kenyan tour of duty in May 2011, cited differences with Washington regarding his leadership style and “certain priorities.” As he put it, “Differences with Washington regarding my leadership style and certain priorities lead me to believe that it’s now time to leave.”  His failings in running the embassy in Nairobi and in carrying out his ambassadorial duties are going to be discussed — in redacted form — in a report by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General that is supposed to be posted on the web in mid-July, detailing the findings of an operations audit that is routinely conducted of US embassies.

Officials from the Office of the Inspector-General spent the month of May at the Kenyan embassy and are said to have offered an unflattering assessment of the mission and its leadership. His priorities have been contrasted by staff with those of his predecessor, who involved himself in local politics, sometimes to the point of publicly castigating Kenyan leaders.

Things were probably not made easier for him by the fact that his boss at the State Department, Johnny Carson, served as ambassador in Kenya and as such has other channels of information among his Kenyan contacts who may have judged the general harshly.

“In the past six months there has been increasing unhappiness within the embassy and with US implementing partners in Kenya over his not being vocal on issues of human rights. There was also a feeling in Washington that there wasn’t sufficient engagement with the government of Kenya on critical issues facing Kenya,” said a US academic who spoke to The EastAfrican.

Other quarters revealed that there is widespread disgruntlement among Kenyan democracy activists regarding what they saw as Gen Gration’s failure to engage with them and support their cause.

The US has been a major supporter of Kenya in the war against terror.

With Somalia on the boil as African Union troops tackle Al Shabaab, the Nairobi embassy, which is one of Washington’s key diplomatic operations in  Africa, is being relied upon by managers of America’s strategic interests in the Horn and Mr Gration’s performance will have come under close attention from his superiors back home.

Prior to his posting to Kenya, Gen Gration was President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan, where he initiated the policy of  constructive engagement with Khartoum. Some US civil society groups opposed his posting, questioning his ability to handle diplomatic pressures. The Darfur-focused activist groups cited the fact that he handled Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with kid gloves and that he had been ineffective in strongly engaging Khartoum over human-rights abuses in Darfur.

Over the past five years, the US clout in the local economic scene has been declining as Kenya continues to look east, specifically to China, India and Japan for aid. Whereas the US continues to be a major source of development aid, disbursing an estimated $3 billion between 2008 and 2011, China, India and Japan have emerged as new sources of infrastructure funding.

China is currently carrying out improvements of roads in Nairobi, while Japan is actively supporting the country’s energy sector.

America’s support has largely focused on health and military funding, with the US government set to give Kenya $14 million in military help this year.

In trade, whereas imports from the US have stagnated at Ksh45 billion ($535 million) since 2007, Kenya’s imports from China and India have more than tripled, rising from Ksh46 billion ($547 million) and Ksh56 billion ($667 million) to Ksh144 billion ($1.7 billion) and Ksh148 billion ($1.8 billion) respectively.

Kenyans had been hoping that  General Gration, who spent his childhood in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, and spoke fluent Kiswahili, would take US-Kenya relations to a new level given his knowledge of Kenya, its people, its language, and its culture. His tenure coincided with a crucial period in Kenya when the country started implementing its new Constitution.

His parting words for Kenya: “I wish Kenya the very best as it implements its constitutional reforms, holds elections next year, and proceeds with the devolution of political and economic power.”

By Fred Oluoch,  Mwaura Kimani Kevin Kelley and Peterson Thiong’o