Lessons From Addis

A lot has been said and tongues have been waging after Ambassador Amina Mohamed lost her bid to become the next African Union Commission Chairperson in an election that happened in Addis Ababa Ethiopia on Monday.

Ambassador Amina Mohamed, the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary lost to Moussa Muhamat of Chad who received a total of 38 votes against Amina’s 26 votes.

The failure of Kenya to clinch the African Union top seat despite the spirited shuttle diplomacy by the government in more than 51 African Countries out of 53 has brought to the surface various schools of thought as to what may have led to that failure.

Some say that Kenya lost at the AU because other countries are jealous of her, some say that she failed because she has failed to use her foreign relations with other nations well while some blamed Amina Mohamed especially on her stand concerning the matter surrounding the Africa’s position in the International Criminal Court, ICC.

Everything said and done, what are some of the lessons that Kenya should have learned from Addis Ababa Ethiopia?

• Kenya should reconsider who her friends are.

Kenya was confident that she was going to make it at the AU and head the commission for the next four years. This false confidence came after Kenya engaged 5i of her ‘friends’ who assured her that there were going to support Ambassador Amina Mohamed. Such loyal friends included Uganda under Yoweri Museveni and Burundi who abandoned Kenya at the hour of need. Kenya, should, therefore, realize that not every smile means well for her.

• Kenya should clean her house

Kenya’s linen is dirty and many are the times that we have displayed it in public. The country has been marred with unresolved massive corruption which saw her being named by Transparency International among the most corrupt nations in the world. Telling other African countries that we were clean enough to handle the affairs of Africa was taking them for a foolish ride because they were fully aware of what is happening in the country and they smiled as they taught us a ‘lesson.’

• Kenya is not an emerging powerhouse

I smiled when I heard the Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale saying that Amina Mohamed was not voted for because other country envy Kenya as an emerging powerhouse. Kenya is not an emerging powerhouse. Kenya has always been a powerhouse. What Kenya is actually doing is that it is deteriorating from her rightful position of Africa’s powerhouse. Kenya, therefore, should rise up from the slumber and realize that her glory is going down the trench.

• The President should measure the words of his sycophants

Sources close to the President of the Republic of Kenya indicated that the Head of State was upset that those he had sent on a shuttle diplomacy came back to feed him with lies claiming that the countries they had visited had agreed to vote for Ambassador Amina Mohamed during the 28th AU Summit that was held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The President should be aware of who he sends out of the country to represent him. He should realize that whoever he sends carries the face of Kenya and if the individual goes on a mission and comes back with a makeup story just to sooth the ears of the Head of State, such an individual should be punished.

• Kenya should revisit her strategy in diplomacy

Kenya should not just think of diplomacy only at the time when she needs support in anything. The leaders of this country are in a habit of initiating vigorous shuttle diplomacy only when they need other African countries to help them. The first big shuttle diplomacy was when Kenya wanted Africa to back her bid to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, ICC and when the cases died, the diplomacy ‘cooled’ down and only resurrected when Ambassador Amina Mohamed wanted to be the AU Chair. This should be a continuous process.

Related: Only 1.5 million Kenyans Registered as Voters on the Second Week; Will IEBC Hit the 6 million Target?