The much awaited and much publicized African Union elections where the Africans Heads of States were to meet and elect the new African Union chairperson were finally done on Monday.
During the elections, Kenya’s Ambassador Amina Mohamed who had been seen as the potential candidate to clinch the AU topmost seat was edged out by Moussa Muhamat of Chad who was supported by most states especially the French-Speaking nations.
Mr. Moussa, a lawyer, politician, former Prime Minister and former minister for Foreign Affairs in Chad, clinched the top seat with 38 votes against 26 votes gotten by Amina Mohamed in an election that took place in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.
Kenya had high expectations of leading the AU through Amina Mohamed given the spirited campaign in other African countries that saw Kenya engage 51 African countries out of 53, all of which had promised that they would support and vote for the Kenyan candidate.
The Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary had the full support of majority of Kenyans and given her expansive knowledge and experience in diplomacy and her stand on Pan Africanism, many knew that she was headed for nothing else but the top seat at the African Union.
Sources closer to what transpired on Monday, however, indicated that there was betrayal from some states which had promised to vote for the Kenyan candidate but changed and voted for Chad in the last minute. It also emerged that Uganda and Burundi were among the countries that voted for Kenya in the first round but opted to vote for Chad in the last round.
Some political analysts say that Kenya might have lost as a results of some countries feeling jealous that she was rising very fast while others may have viewed Kenya as a ‘bully’ and one that may not serve and protect their interests.
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