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Why Amina Mohamed lost bid for AU top post


A last-minute change of the agenda and the refusal by Uganda, Djibouti and Burundi to vote for Kenya were on Monday evening blamed for the defeat of Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed in the race to become chairperson of African Union Commission.

Details of the shock trouncing in Addis Ababa on Monday afternoon emerged as Kenyan diplomats came to terms with the loss after an extensive campaign of three months that cost the country about Sh350 million.

Ms Mohamed lost to Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat after seven rounds of voting.

The Chadian foreign minister, who had said he would take a bullet for the sake of Africa, became the fourth AUC chairperson from francophone Africa out of five heads since 2002.

Shortly after the vote, he said he did not have “a magic wand” to right the problems the AU is facing — such as shortage of funds and slow responses to crises — saying, instead, that he needed everyone on board to help bring the continent together.