Ambassador Martin Mbugua Kimani, PhD, EBS, is a renowned Kenyan diplomat and public servant. He has served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary since December 2020. He led the Kenyan team during its tenure on the UN Security Council for the 2021–2022 term, and in October 2021, he served as President of the Council.
He is widely known for his viral and highly acclaimed speech to the Security Council in February 2022, where he criticized Russia’s recognition of separatist-held areas in Ukraine, likening it to Africa’s colonial borders and how they came to be.
Dr. Kimani has an extensive two-decade career, spanning in peace and security, political risk advisory, and global financial markets. He has held various influential roles, including the President’s Special Envoy for Countering Violent Extremism and as the Director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre from 2015. Prior to that, he served as the Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat. He was the Director of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism (CEWARN) in Ethiopia between 2011 and 2012.
Kimani was also the deputy director of the Ansari Africa centre at the Atlantic council in Washington DC in 2010.
Academically, the Mombasa-born envoy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of New Hampshire and both a Master’s and a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London. His doctoral thesis examined religion, Christian symbolism, the Catholic Church, and racialism in the context of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
His contributions earned him the prestigious Kenyan presidential honor, Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear (EBS) in 2016. He was also awarded thhe German Africa Foundation’s Honorary Award in 2022 and he is also a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and the African Leadership Initiative.
In his latest role, Dr. Kimani served as the Executive Director of the New York University Center on International Cooperation (CIC), a position he held from June 2024 until his resignation in January 2025. Despite serving for a short stint, he described it as a period of valuable learning about institutional dynamics during a time of transition.
“After careful reflection, I’ve decided to step down as Executive Director of NYU’s Center on International Cooperation. While my tenure was shorter than anticipated, it provided valuable insights into the opportunities and complexities of dynamics at NYU Arts and Science during a period of institutional transition,” his statement read.
Martin Kimani is married to June Arunga Kimani, and they have two children. His career is a testament of his commitment to public service, intellectual precision, and a profound impact on both national and international stages.
