President William Ruto named Gabow to the position in changes announced Friday.
A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
A consul is generally part of a government's diplomatic corps or foreign service, and thus enjoys certain privileges and protections in the host state, albeit without full diplomatic immunity.
Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi had earlier said the government plans to open a consulate in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and another in Guangzhou, China, next year.
“In the light of growing demand, we have also expanded our diplomatic footprint by opening a new embassy in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Rabat in Morocco, and a consulate general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia," he said.
In the year ahead (2025), we shall open a consulate general in Guangzhou, China, as well as in Port-au-Prince, Haiti."
Gabow will also advance Kenya’s interests in Haiti and the Caribbean at large.
“This gives him more room to oversee the Haiti mission and also serve other regional interests including at the UN and elsewhere,” said a senior government official aware of the issue.
He has served at the UN and he will use the experience to lobby many issues in the interest of the region.
He led the initial plans to deploy the Kenyan police to Haiti and landed there with the team on June 25, 2024.
So far 400 officers are on the ground and 400 others are lined up for deployment.
Gabow, a no-nonsense police officer is a career cop with 36 years’ experience in law enforcement.
He is the immediate former Deputy Inspector General of the Administration Police Service and was in charge of a 30,000-strong service that prides itself on among others being the lead agency in Border and Protective Security.
Gabow oversaw the Administration Police Service mission of Border Protective Security while promoting economic prosperity and security.
From 1996 to 1997 and 2in 001 and 2002 he served in the United Nations peacekeeping missions in former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone where he was a trainer, adviser and investigator and contributed to the building capacities of the local police institutions.
From 2003 to 2007 he was a mission management officer in charge of West Africa in the police Division, Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN headquarters, in New York.
From 2007 to 2008 he also served as the UN police adviser to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
As the DIG - APS, he ran one of the most spread government agencies in the country.
Gabow served in various capacities as a police supervisor and training instructor where he rose to be the Commandant to the then Kenya Police College – Kiganjo where he was instrumental in transforming the college to high standards in provision of training for police officers.
This is in addition to being a Director of Planning and Chief Transport and Fleet manager at the Police Headquarters.
He also served the nation as an Officer Commanding Station, a Deputy Officer Commanding Police Division and a Deputy Provincial Police Officer.
He has received numerous awards and recognition for leadership, innovation, and community service with the latest one being the Chief of the Burning Spear which he received for the reforms he instituted in the National Police Service.
Gabow is a holder of a Master’s Degree in Governance, Peace and Security and a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts in Penology and Criminology.
He has also been a recipient of various trainings with the most notable one being the International Strategic Leadership Programme from Bramshill, UK.