An incident took place in Eldoret on Thursday, in which three top officials of the British High Commission were asked to leave a hotel where they had gone to host a one-day seminar on human rights.
The argument made by the Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor, Daniel Chemno, who reportedly "stormed" the meeting, was that diplomatic protocol had been violated because the county government had not been consulted by the organisers of the meeting.
Tom Howe of the British High Commission on the other hand, said that his team had made attempts to contact the governor ahead of the visit, but had been unsuccessful.
Whatever may be the truth in this matter, such an incident demonstrates the kind of attitude no county government can afford, at a time when the race is on to attract investment and create jobs.
Although Kenya has a thriving banking sector and many local entrepreneurs, the fact remains that for some of the more ambitious projects which governors aspire to, foreign investors are needed.
For its not primarily money that these investors bring in. Even more important are their global networks of production and supply, and their expertise in various fields. It is these networks and expertise that Kenyans lack.
Now foreign investors, when they come to any country, are largely dependent on the guidance of their country's embassy (or High Commission).
The envoys are effectively the gatekeepers, who determine what will be encouraged and what regions or counties, they will discourage their investors from turning to.
Over the years, human rights issues have come to occupy a central place in the global perception of whether or not any specific place is "open for business".
So when the deputy governor "storms" a meeting of human rights groups, and demands that this meeting be stopped immediately; and when the reason given is that the presence of officers of the British High Commission in that place is considered undesirable; there can barely be an action better designed to ensure that potential investors from Britain as well as elsewhere in Europe, steer clear of that place.