Lessons derived from Amina's loss in quest to chair AU Commission

Kenya exuded so much confidence her candidate, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, would win the January 30, 2017 elections for the chairperson of the African Union Commission, it was taken as a fait accompli. And for good reason too. The country expended a lot of energy, time and resources traversing the breadth of Africa to campaign for her. But as with all elections, nothing is certain until the final count is made.

Amina’s loss to her Chadian counterpart Moussa Faki came as a big slap in the face for Kenya. It was a big blow for the country after all it put into making Amina’s election a reality. President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto ran a campaign to popularise her with the same vigour they ran campaigns to discredit the International Criminal Court in 2014.