The Kenyan government is making frantic efforts to evacuate its nationals including Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula who are stranded in Mali after the announcement that parts of its military forces had taken control of the African country.

The development comes after the government announced late Saturday that its efforts to evacuate the minister and other 18 Kenyans in Mali through a chartered flight from Nigeria foundered.

A statement from the ministry of foreign affairs said the government had secured clearance to fly into Bamako from the Mali military authority now in charge of the West African nation.

Following the clearance, the statement said the government chartered a flight from an Airline company in Abuja, Nigeria to fly in and evacuate the minister, the government officials and other Kenyans with him.

"However, as the government was awaiting information that the aircraft had left Abuja for Bamako, Mali, they were informed that the airline had declined to take off, saying that they had been informed by the control tower in Mali that the airspace was not safe," it said.

Despite this setback, the east African nation is currently trying to get an alternative airline willing to fly to Mali following the clearance by the military.

Wetangula who is among the many foreign dignitaries who are stranded in the capital Bamako, awaiting evacuation is accompanied by his Personal Assistant, Boniface Munzola, Gilbert Ng'eno from Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa and Anthony Safari from Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi.

Mali's coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo on Saturday reportedly promised the safe release of three senior African foreign officials stranded in Bamako after the coup.

Wetangula who attended the African Union Peace and Security meeting before the coup is stranded along with his counterparts from Zimbabwe and Tunisia.

The government said it was also in touch with UN, AU and other friendly nations in the region and working on their evacuation.

The failure to fly into Bamako came a day after Wetangula gave up a seat on a United Nations plane on Friday night and offered it to a Kenyan who was among those stranded in the West African nation.

Wetangula said through his Twitter account that his conscience could not allow him to fly to safety and leave behind other Kenyans who are also stranded in Mali.

"One seat was available and offered to me but I declined to take the seat and gave it to one stranded Kenyan, Mr. Kaberia," the minister said.

"I found it difficult and immoral to jump on the plane to safety and leave my officers and other Kenyans in uncertainty," he said.

The rebel troops reportedly appeared on Malian state television to announce they had taken control of the country, with soldiers saying a curfew was in force and that the constitution had been suspended.

The mutiny that reportedly occurred on March 21 also involved an attack on the presidential palace.

The minister was due to leave for the airport last Wednesday when they were advised to remain in the hotel following an army mutiny. The minister through his Twitter account said he was safe but could hear gunshots from his hotel room.

Kenya Airways confirmed on Sunday that it is using its connections in Africa to assist in getting Wetangula and 18 other Kenyans from the troubled African nation.

"The airline also confirms that the earlier planned charter flight failed after the pilots opted not to fly into Bamako," Kenya Airways CEO Dr. Titus Naikuni said.

In a telephone conversation with Naikuni, Wetangula confirmed that the planned evacuation from Mali did not materialize as the pilot from the Nigerian chartered aircraft decided not to fly into Bamako.

"The minister informed Dr. Naikuni that the Kenyans were safe," the statement said. Naikuni noted that the airline was assisting the government through its airline's networks in the continent to have the minister and the Kenyans back home.

Naikuni who has since diverted flights to the West African nation due to closure of the airspace said Kenya Airways is assisting the government through sourcing of another charter aircraft from either Abidjan or Dakar.

Anger among the rebel troops had reportedly been mounting since January over a lack of support from the government to help them fight against Tuareg rebels in the northern part of the country.

Renewed fighting between government troops and the Tuareg has forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes, leaving them in dire need of shelter, food, and other basic needs.

Inside Mali, the UN refugee agency said the displaced people are living in difficult conditions in villages and temporary sites and dependant on the generosity of host communities.