CS Amina Mohammed Loses Race for Top WTO Job

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed bid to become the next World Trade Organisation Director General has come to an end after she was not shortlisted for the final round of voting.

Reports on Bloomberg indicate that WTO members selected two final candidates; Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee  for the final round.

Both finalists are women, meaning that the WTO will have a new femal Director General for the first time in its history.

Uhuru campaigns for Amina Mohammed

CS Amina’s elimination comes as a surprise to many, since she boasts of wealthy international trade experience and had received the backing of President Uhuru Kenyatta and the EAC countries.

“The length and breadth of her experience with the WTO and the multilateral trading system combined with her extensive track record in international relations and her political experience, I believe is unparalleled… From a personal perspective, my experience working with her over the years and watching her work with others has convinced me that she is an effective leader and without doubt, a master consensus builder,” President Kenyatta said.

This is the second global job that Amina has been unable to secure in the past recent years.

A couple of years ago, she contested the chairperson position at the African Union Commission but lost to Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat.