Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano has responded directly to outgoing French Ambassador Arnaud Suquet's parting tribute to Kenya's tourism circuit, using her own social media platform to cast the country as a place he will always be tied to rather than one he is simply departing.
The exchange began after NTV Kenya aired an interview in which Suquet named Kakamega Forest, the coast, Kisumu, Nairobi, and Mt Kenya as the places he had grown closest to during his four years in the country.
Suquet's posting ends with a new African assignment beginning in September, a transition that diplomatic observers say tends to keep departing envoys engaged with the countries they leave behind rather than severing those ties entirely.
Miano quoted the NTV broadcast directly on her own account, posting her response the same day the interview aired.
“When you experience Kenya, you don't just visit, you belong,” said Miano, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife.
Her words echoed the sentiment that travel in Kenya is not a fleeting encounter but a deeper connection.
By highlighting the same five locations Suquet had named, Miano cast them as proof that the country functions less as a checklist of attractions and more as a place that keeps drawing travelers back, whatever their next posting.
Her post went on to describe Kenya as more than a destination to cross off a list, calling it a home that captures visitors and keeps pulling them back, language built around the idea of a standing invitation rather than a formal ministry statement.
The ambassador's own account, drawn from the NTV interview, gave each destination a personal rationale rather than a diplomatic one.
He traced his attachment to Kakamega Forest to a partnership his mission built with the Wangari Maathai Foundation and her daughter Wanjira, which brought international scientists to document the reserve's biodiversity and trained local youth as eco guides in what remains Kenya's only surviving rainforest.
"I don't want to rate so many best places in Kenya, but I think Kakamega Forest will be close to my heart," said Suquet, outgoing French Ambassador to Kenya, before naming the coast, Nairobi, and Kisumu as his personal top picks when pressed to set diplomatic caution aside.
Suquet was equally candid about unfinished business, admitting he had hiked partway up Mt Kenya without reaching the summit, a gap he intends to close when his new continental posting brings him back to the region.
He confirmed that role begins in September and will keep him engaged with the broader partnership between France and Africa, with Kenya serving as what he called an anchor within that effort.
He also pledged to attend the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which the country is co hosting with Uganda and Tanzania, an event tourism officials view as a rare opportunity to showcase hospitality capacity to a continental audience.
For the Ministry of Tourism, the episode illustrates how quickly an unscripted diplomatic testimonial can be absorbed into official messaging, with Miano's response arriving within hours of the broadcast and converting Suquet's remarks into a case study for the ministry's own branding priorities.
Taken together, the exchange points to a ministry eager to fold personal, unscripted endorsements from figures like Suquet into a broader narrative about Kenya as a place of belonging rather than a transactional destination, a framing officials will likely lean on further as the country prepares to host AFCON 2027 and courts new source markets beyond its traditional European and American base.
