Mukhisa Kituyi's appointment to head United Nations Conference on Trade and Development approved

Kenya's former Trade minister Mukhisa Kituyi appointed to head UNCTAD. (Photo:Standard)

By Roselyne Obala

Nairobi, Kenya: The General Assembly of the United Nations has approved former Trade minister Mukhisa Kituyi as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The Assembly members approved Dr Kituyi’s nomination on Monday to serve as the Head of the Geneva-based agency, beginning September 1 this year.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nominated the former Kimilili legislator to the post in May this year and will serve in this capacity for four years.

Kituyi will succeed Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand, who has served in the same position since September 2005 and was re-appointed in 2009.

Kituyi who hails from Bungoma County in Western Kenya, has a rich background in Trade as he has held several senior positions, including serving as Kenya's Minister of Trade and Industry from 2002 to 2007 in the former President Kibaki’s administration.

During this tenure, he chaired the COMESA Council of Ministers and the African Trade Ministers' Council, both for two years.

 He chaired the Council of Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, and was the lead negotiator for Eastern and Southern African ministers in the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations.

He was also the convenor of the agricultural negotiations at the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of the WTO Doha Round.

Kituyi has played a key role in both regional and multilateral trade diplomacy.

The UN’s tradition requires that the secretary-general consult with the G77 on the developing countries’ club, over the appointment since UNCTAD has traditionally been headed by a national of a developing country.

Dr Kituyi is a graduate of Political Science and International Relations from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, is also a holder a PhD in Social Anthropology, a Master of Philosophy in Development Studies and a Diploma in Science, Comparative Production Systems, all from the University of Bergen, Norway.

His appointment is a major boost to the United Democratic Forum (UDF) alliances with the Jubilee Government, on whose ticket he vied for the Bungoma Senatorial position.

Kituyi was also the party’s political adviser and chief strategist.

It is also a reprieve for Kituyi, having lost the seat to Moses Wetangula in the March 4 polls.

Kituyi made his debut in Kenyan politics in 1992 when he was elected MP for Kimili, and was twice re-elected.