Kenya’s Amina wants probe into unsuccessful AU post bid
Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed (R) walks during the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017. Amina Mohamed was candidate for the African Union’s chairperson position but lost to Chad’s foreign minister. PHOTO | NMG
What you need to know:
- In the first press conference since she lost to Chadian Foreign Minister Mahamati Faki, Ms Mohamed on Tuesday said some of the pledges made by the unnamed neighbouring countries were “deceptive.”
Addis Ababa. The inquest, she says, should establish why Kenya’s neighbours, whom she did not name, decamped to vote for other candidates in the Monday election.
In the first press conference since she lost to Chadian Foreign Minister Mahamati Faki, Ms Mohamed on Tuesday said some of the pledges made by the unnamed neighbouring countries were “deceptive.”
“Things fell apart at the last round,” she told journalists in Addis.
“I think the fear from some that maybe we were going to get it (led to this). So they probably withdrew their support.”
She said Kenya should draw lessons from the loss.
“Are we seen as a friend or a threat?” she told journalists in Addis Ababa, adding that “appearances are deceptive.”
“I think we are very honest people so it is difficult to deal with deceptive people. Going forward, it is a good lesson to learn. If we ever vied for a continental position, we have to take all that into consideration and probably pick someone who speaks more French than English for the office.”
Ms Mohamed was smarting from a defeat from a man few expected to get the seat.
All along, she had sought votes across Africa and President Uhuru Kenyatta sent emissaries to 53 countries seeking the vote.
While the East African Community and other countries in the neighbourhood pledged to vote for her, she fell from the race in the sixth round.
She collected 25 votes against Faki’s 28. And moments after the results were out, it emerged that Djibouti, Burundi and Uganda had decamped to vote for the Chadian candidate.
Ms Mohamed said she believed the countries, she did not mention, had other interests that made them look elsewhere at the hour of need.
“I think they were interests that we, as a country, we should not actually be pursuing. We are pretty comfortable with where we are because the honest votes across the continent that we needed. As for the rest, I think there will be a lot of soul-searching and self-reflection going forward.”
The Chadian candidate became the fourth AUC Chairperson to come from the Francophone countries.
From the outset, it appeared to be the strength of the Francophone countries against the Anglophone. (NMG)
