President Barack Obama has nominated a career diplomat with extensive experience in Africa to serve as the next ambassador to the West African nation of Burkina Faso. If confirmed by the Senate, Tulinabo Salama Mushingi would succeed career diplomat Thomas Dougherty, who had served since August 2010.
The son of Bahiga and Namazi Mushingi, Tulinabo Mushingi was born circa 1957. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. from the Institut Superieur Pedagogique in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, an M.A. at Howard University, and a Ph.D. in Linguistics at Georgetown University in 1989, with a dissertation entitled, “Vehicular languages as media of instruction: The case of Swahili in Zaire.”
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, Mushingi began his career as a language and cultural trainer for the Peace Corps before joining the Foreign Service. Early career assignments included service as a general services officer at the U.S. Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique, from 1994 to 1996; as a counseling and assignment officer in the State Department Bureau of Human Resources from 1999 to 2001; and as management officer at the Consulate General in Casablanca, Morocco, from 2001 to 2003.
Back in Washington, Mushingi served as supervisory general services officer in the Executive Office of the Secretary of State from 2003 to 2006. He then served two straight stints in Africa. From 2006 to 2009, he was counselor for management affairs at the embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and chargé d’affaires ad interim, and from 2009 to 2011, he was chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Since 2011, Mushingi has served as deputy executive secretary and executive director of the Executive Office of the Secretary of State.
Mushingi, who bears an unusual resemblance to President Obama, is married to Rebecca (née Marshbanks) Mushingi and they have a daughter named Furaha.
-Matt Bewig
