AU Commission job should go to candidate who is a proven leader and implementer

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed speaks to a Nation reporter about Ticad on August 25, 2016. Amina wiped the floor with the ICC flag to win freedom for President Uhuru Kenyatta. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Africa knows her. One, it was Amina who brought the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to Africa for the first time in 2015.
  • While all candidates are qualified for the job, Amina and Prof Bathily start with their noses in front.

I argued in the heady 90s that Kenya should nominate and support its sons and daughters for the leadership of international organisations, including the Organisation of African Unity, the precursor of the African Union (AU), and the United Nations.

I posited that Kenya needed to position itself as an influential player on the African continent.

Two-and-a-half decades later, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, a former Trade Minister, is Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohamed could become Chairman of the AU Commission at the end of the month.

Africa knows her. One, it was Amina who brought the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to Africa for the first time in 2015.

Two, she it was who last year brought Unctad to Africa for only the third time since its formation in 1964.

Three, on her watch at Foreign Affairs, last year the Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (Ticad) was held in Africa for the first time since its establishment in 1993.

Four, Africa’s leadership and diplomacy know that between 2013 and 2015, Amina spearheaded Nairobi’s global campaign of delegitimisation of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Threatened late last year with withdrawals by South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia, the court is yet to recover from Amina’s brutal onslaught.

Last, as Amina wiped the floor with the ICC flag to win freedom for President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto from charges of crimes against humanity, Nairobi happily spawned and spun a fresh feel-good narrative: hail Africa’s renaissance as the continent asserts itself on the global stage!

LOBBYING
Come the end of the month Africa’s heads of state and government meeting in Addis Ababa will, inter alia, elect the chairman of the AU Commission.

The commission is the executive arm of the Union, tasked with implementing policies and resolutions of the heads of state and government summits and Agenda 2063, AU’s long term development blueprint.

Amina Mohamed is pitted against Senegal’s politician, academic, diplomat and UN Special Envoy to Central Africa, Prof Abdoulaye Bathily; Equatorial Guinea’s Foreign Affairs Minister Agapito Mba Mokuy; Chad’s former Prime Minister and now Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat and Botswana’s Ms Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, who has served in many Cabinet posts and is currently Foreign Affairs Minister.

But this ballot is convoluted. One, Amina is East Africa’s candidate; Prof Bathily is west Africa’s pick; Mr Mokuy is Central Africa’s torchbearer; Mr Mahamat’s Chad straddles Central and North Africa; and Ms Moitoi is flying the Southern Africa’s flag.

Two, President Macky Sall has been publicly touted as Prof Bathily’s campaign manager; President Kenyatta is actively canvassing support for Amina; and former Botswana President Festus Mogae, winner of the 2008 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, was reported to have been roped in by the Southern African Development Community to mobilise support for Ms Moitoi.

Three, Chad’s President Idriss Deby, who is serving his one year tenure as ceremonial AU Chairman, was expected to use his office to campaign for Mr Mahamat.

Four, President Teodoro Nguema, who generously funds AU activities from Equatorial Guinea’s oil derived resources, expects a reward in the form of Mr Mokuy’s election.

Last, continental and global civil society has a serious interest in this pivotal poll.

ACTIVE LEADER
So, how and when does the East African Community, for example, canvass the Economic Community of West African States to back Amina or the latter persuade the former to vote for Prof Bathily?

Did presidents and prime ministers watch the candidates spell out their visions in the live TV debate of December 9?

Distracted by work or regional interests or watching by proxy, most may not have fully grasped the import of Prof Bathily’s brilliant seven-point opener that was anchor and summary of his vision.

But they cannot gloss over the quintet’s concern about poverty, youth unemployment and absolute need to empower Africa’s women.

This is my advice to the electors. One, there must be no dealing.

Two, while all candidates are qualified for the job, Amina and Prof Bathily start with their noses in front.

Three, while the visions of candidates matter, the job is about implementing AU’s Vision 2063 and the policies of its summits; soliciting funding; and standing up for Africa.

Therefore, the job should go to a proven leader and implementer who will, for example, face down ballot-defying President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia.