President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday met African leaders to drum up support for Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohamed who is Kenya’s candidate for the post of chairperson of the African Union Commission.
The President met 30 leaders on the margins of the Conference of the Parties (COP22), the global climate change summit held in the Mediterranean city of Marrakech, Morocco.
Among the leaders were those from Nigeria, Gabon, Rwanda, Seychelles, the Comoros, Sudan, Senegal and Chad.Special envoys of the President, including Deputy President William Ruto, have reached out to more than 35 countries on the President’s quest to build a consensus around the candidature of Amb. Mohamed.
Candidates from Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Senegal and Botswana will also seek the chairperson’s post when elections are held at the next African Union summit in Ethiopia in January.
In making the case for Amb. Mohamed, Kenya has argued that as the Foreign Affairs minister of a pivotal East Africa and Horn of Africa nation, she will hit the ground running on the most pressing peace and security issues on the continent: terrorism; civil wars; post election conflict; and stabilisation.
Kenya says her experience in the World Trade Organisation negotiations and as chair of the recent WTO Ministerial Conference will also allow her to build Africa’s voice in multilateral trade negotiations and agreements.
Kenya has also argued that her knowledge of the International Criminal Court as an institution and as a process will allow Africa to be treated with more respect and understanding through her representations.
The CS experience as the former Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment programme also means she is in a position to provide leadership for Africa on matters of climate change.
Somalia and Egypt have already thrown their weight behind Kenya, but in the AU voting system most countries are likely to take the cue from regional groupings, such as the East African Community (EAC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS).
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