President Uhuru Kenyatta congratulates Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed on her nomination for the position of African Union (AU) Commission chairperson at State House. /FILE
President Uhuru Kenyatta left the country on Tuesday for Morocco to attend the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – also known as COP22.
State House said that the conference will focus on the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change which Kenya is a signatory.
While in Morocco, President Kenyatta is also expected to join close to 40 heads of state and government at Africa Action Summit that will be held on the sidelines of COP22.
“The summit will discuss Africa’s roadmap for the implementation of the Paris climate change agreement,” a statement from State House said.
While there, the President is expected to lobby for the election of Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed as AU commission chair; in what will be a second leg of shuttle diplomacy to ensure Kenya secures the seat.
Morocco’s membership to the AU is under consideration, being the only country out of the 54 African states, that was not a member of the group.
Amina is eyeing the post of the African Union Commission chairperson, for which Kenya has put up spirited and well-funded campaigns.
She requires votes from at least 35 of the 53 member countries for her bid to occupy the seat to succeed.
The President and DP William Ruto as well as a team of ministers have been leading intense campaigns for the CS in the past few weeks.
Nineteen Comesa countries have pledged their support but it is not guaranteed because Amina is contesting against Botswana’s Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi.
Equatorial Guinea’s Foreign minister Agapito Mba Mokuy and Senegal’s Abdoulaye Bathily are also in the race for the AU post.
Malawi and Madagascar, which belong to SADC, have pledged to support the CS.
DP Ruto returned to the country on Saturday after lobbying West Africa and parts of East Africa.
The elections are slated for January 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – the headquarters of the AU.
The President was to preside over the burning of illegal firearms in Ngong but he has skipped the event to campaign for Amina.
On Monday next week, when the President hosts the State House Diplomacy Summit, Amina will update Kenyans on the gains made since the campaigns began.
