Sports CS Amina Mohamed suffers early defeat in race for WTO Director General

Amina suffers early defeat in race for WTO top job

Tony Mukere

October 8, 2020 10:24 AM

Uhuru had led an aggressive campaign to support her candidature

Sports CS Amina Mohamed suffers early defeat in race for WTO Director General

Sports CS Amina Mohamed has suffered an early defeat in her bid to head the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Amina did not make it to the final list of candidates who will battle to become the next Director General of the powerful trade organization.

The Cabinet Secretary was among three candidates who were dropped after intense consultations between representatives of the 164-member WTO.

The race has now boiled down to two female candidates - Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Ms Yoo Myung-hee of South Korea.

Apart from Amina, Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia and Dr Liam Fox also failed to make it to the final race.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had embarked on an aggressive campaign to campaign for CS Mohamed.

The Sports CS would have had to quit her Cabinet position as the WTO Director General's job is permanent with an office in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 2017, Kenya spent Sh347 million in Ms Mohamed's unsuccessful bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson's seat which was won by Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad.

Okonjo-Iweala now stands a chance to become the first African to head the WTO which has been criticized for favoring developed western countries at the expense of developing countries.

Tony Mukere