NEW ARRIVALS |D E L I G HT S
New arrivals Alfred Kenneth Russell High Commissioner for Bahamas
Andrea Ferrari Ambassador of Italy
Oleg V. Stepanov Ambassador of Russia
After a long career at the Bahamas Oil Refinery, High Commissioner Russell became a justice of the peace and a member of the housing commission for the island of Grand Bahama. He was then responsible for public works as a council representative and then chairman of the town planning committee for New Providence and The Bahamas. In 1997, he was elected as a member of parliament and became minister of public works in 2001, after which he served as minister of housing and national insurance. When he left politics in 2012, he became owner and operator of two companies — ALS Construction and Best Home Designs. In 2019, he received the British Empire Medal for meritorious service. He was appointed high commissioner to Canada in November 2020.
Ambassador Ferrari joined the foreign service in 1990, starting in the treaty law division, and then the press and information service. His first posting was to Malaysia in 1992, where he ran the embassy’s trade office. In 1996, he was posted to Hungary. He returned to the office of the foreign minister in 2000, until 2004, when he was posted to Beijing as first counsellor commerce. In 2008, he became ambassador to Qatar. He returned to the ministry in 2012, in the directorate general for the promotion of the Sistema Paese and later to the office of the minister, where he served as deputy chief of staff. In 2014, he became deputy director-general of political affairs and security, and central director for the United Nations and human rights. In 2016, he was named ambassador to Cuba. Ambassador Ferrari is married to Maria Grazia Mattarella. They have one daughter.
Ambassador Stepanov graduated from Moscow State University in 1994 with a master ’s degree in international journalism and public relations. He then joined the foreign ministry North American desk. He has served as vice-consul in San Francisco and counsellor at the embassy in Georgia. In 2010, he became minister-counsellor for political and political-military affairs at the embassy in the U.S. and a year later, he was promoted as minister and deputy chief of mission. From 2016 to 2021, he served as director of the foreign policy planning department at the foreign ministry. The ambassador is a member of two academic non-governmental organizations — the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy and the Russian Foreign Affairs Council. He is married to Yulia Stepanova and they have two children, a son and a daughter.
Bafetigue Ouattara Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire
Immaculate Nduku Musili Wambua High Commissioner for Kenya
Ambassador Ouattara began his career as a legal adviser after completing a master ’s in international relations. He then studied diplomacy and joined the foreign ministry as a senior research analyst in 2004. He was promoted to deputy director in 2006 and his first posting came in 2008 when he was sent to the permanent mission of the United Nations as counsellor. He became ambassador and deputy permanent representative at the United Nations in 2013 and held the post until he was assigned to Canada.
High Commissioner Wambua began her career in the public service in 1988 as children’s officer at the ministry of home affairs and national heritage. She held that position for eight years before becoming assistant secretary in the office of the president in the department of provincial administration and internal security. In 2003, she joined the foreign ministry and held various positions within the multilateral, Asia Australasia directorates. In 2006, she was sent to Brussels as first counsellor and then returned to headquarters as deputy director of the economic and external trade directorate. She was sent to Ireland in 2013 as chargé d’affaires, and later, deputy head of mission. Back at the ministry in 2018, she became deputy director of the protocol directorate for a year before becoming director of the Americas and Caribbean directorate.
Non-heads of mission Burkina Faso Ouampousga Pierre Theodore D. Illy First secretary China Jiangang Li Minister-counsellor Congo Jolie Karungi Sebise Attaché Germany Thomas Ludwig Thiede Assistant attaché India First secretary Chellappan Gurusubramanian Israel Anan Raad Attaché Mexico Arturo Caracas Uribe Naval attaché Francisco Alejandro Maldonado Aguilar Deputy naval attaché Peru Catherine Gamarra Dominguez Third secretary Edgar Nivaldo Quilca Molina Assistant military and defence attaché Slovakia Peter Vavra Second secretary
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