Management Team

Raouf Mazou

UNHCR Representative in Kenya

Mr. Raouf Mazou took up his appointment as Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kenya on 21 September 2013. Four years prior to this, Mr. Mazou was a Deputy Director in the Africa Bureau, covering Africa’s East and Horn Region. Mr. Mazou has previously occupied various senior positions such as the Deputy Director of the Division of Operations Support and Head of the Emergency and Security Service – looking after UNHCR’s global emergency management and staff security interests.

Having served UNHCR for more than 24 years, Mr. Mazou has worked in the field in many capacities, starting in the early nineties in the Great Lakes Region and subsequently in West Africa in the context of the Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugee crises. He has garnered expertise in various facets of UNHCR’s activities – particularly in emergency response, repatriation and developing strategies aimed at bridging the gap between relief and development.

Twitter @RaoufMazou

Wélla Kouyou

Deputy Representative

Mr. Wélla Kouyou is currently the Deputy Representative of UNHCR Country Office in Kenya. Prior to this position, he was the head of UNHCR Office in Kibuye during the Rwanda emergency and also he managed Democratic Republic of Congo refugees in Kiziba camp.

Mr. Kouyou has been assigned to various positions in UNHCR including Senior Regional Child Protection Officer at the UNHCR Regional Support Hub (RSH) in Nairobi, before joining UNHCR Sub-Office in Gambella, Ethiopia as Head of Sub-Office in charge of South Sudanese Voluntary Repatriation. He assumed the functions of Senior Global Community Services Officer in Geneva before moving to Makamba, Burundi as Head of UNHCR Sub-Office and as Senior Emergency Officer in Geneva.

Mr. Kouyou has immense experience particularly in community development, child protection, gender, community-based approach, staff capacity building, as well as emergency preparedness and response planning.

Twitter @WKouyou

Assistant Representative (Protection)

Mrs. Hamon Sharpe has been serving as the Assistant Representative (Protection) for UNHCR Kenya since January 2014. She holds an MA in International and EU Law of Economics and an MA in International Administration. Mrs Hamon Sharpe joined the United Nations Refugee Agency in 1994 in Burundi. She has occupied various protection and managerial positions mainly in Africa where she has built expertise in the field of resettlement, voluntary repatriation, capacity building, mixed-migrations as well as emergency response and coordination mechanisms.

Twitter @Catherine_Hamon

K.  Offei Dei

Assistant Representative (Administration)

Mr. K. Offei Dei took up his appointment as Assistant Representative (Administration) at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kenya in January 2014. Prior to this, Mr. Dei was the Chief of Administration and Finance at the United Nations Institute of Training and Research from April 2009 to June 2013 where he oversaw, coordinated and finalized the preparation of the Institute’s biennial budget.

Mr. Dei has served for more than 21 years in the UN system. He has served in various positions in UNHCR as Senior Budget Officer, Senior Financial Policy Advisor to the Controller’s Office. He also served as Senior Programme Officer assigned to Freetown during the Sierra Leonean refugee crisis. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Dei was seconded to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as Assistant Controller in Rome, Italy. Prior to UNHCR, Mr. Dei worked was a Financial Analyst at the Harvard Medical Center in Boston.

He holds a Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from Northeastern University, Boston and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Charleston, USA.

Sam Chakwera

Assistant Representative (Programme)

Mr. Samuel Chakwera is currently the Assistant Representative responsible for Programmes in the Kenya Country Operation. Prior to this position, Mr. Chakwera was the Senior Desk Officer in Geneva responsible for Southern Africa sub-region. Mr. Chakwera has also been assigned in the past 25 years to various positions, including Field Officer in Mozambique, Eritrea and Myanmar. He has also worked as Programme Officer in Uganda and as a Senior Programme Officer in Tanzania and South Sudan before being reassigned to Geneva as a Senior Desk Officer.

Although Mr. Chakwera is a Physical Planner by profession, he has also managed to acquire enormous experience over the years in negotiation skills, field operations, programme management, inter-agency collaboration and emergency management.

Twitter @SamChakwera

Ahmed Baba Fall

Head of Operations Dadaab

Mr. Baba Fall is currently Head of Operations of UNHCR Dadaab. Prior to this position, he was the Assistant Representative for Operations in Ndjamena (Chad). While in Chad he was also Head of UNHCR office in Goz Beida and Gore. Mr. Baba Fall has relevant experience in several areas including Food Security, Durable Solutions and Emergency Program Coordination. He has covered senior posts in various countries including Burundi, Tanzania, South Africa and Congo Brazzavile.

Twitter @AhmedBaba_Fall

Honorine Sommet-Lange

Head of Sub-Office Kakuma

Ms. Honorine Sommet-Lange holds a Bachelor Degree in Law and a Masters in Diplomacy and Administration of International Organizations (Diplomatie et Administration des Organisations Internationales).

She is currently the UNHCR Head of Sub-Office Kakuma. Prior to this position, she was the UNHCR Country Representative in Djibouti from 2013 to July 2015. She started her career as a Protection Officer with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Burundi in 1994 during the Great Lakes emergency. Between 1997 and 2005, Ms. Sommet-Lange worked as a Protection Officer in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. In 2006, she joined the Resettlement Service Unit in Geneva covering North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and South East Asia (the then CASWANAME). She was later re-assigned to UNHCR Rwanda Operation as the Deputy Representative (Protection), a position she held for 3 years before she was appointed in March 2011 to Chad as the Deputy Representative Protection.

Ms. Sommet-Lange has over 20 years’ experience with UNHCR operations in Africa, Asia and Europe.