It is obvious that President Uhuru’s hands seems tied, he cannot send CS Amina Mohammed to inflation , he simply can’t sack the good Somali ‘girl’ with roots in Kakamega and Rift Valley though she is of Somali extract. What with reshuffling her from Foreign Affairs, Education then to the colorless Sports docket.
Well, for starters, CS Amina, 58 is linked to former President Moi regime, it is not clear how but it is public domain that her brother billionaire Ahmed Jibril served as Mzee Moi’s finance/Business adviser. Ahmed is a graduate of University of Nairobi’s school of business and Harvard Business School where he graduated with an MBA.
Amina has had a super career since concluding her studies in the communist East Europe, she joined the Foreign Affairs ministry and later at the UNITED NATIONS, she later joined the Kibaki government having been appointed Permanent Secretary in ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs where she replaced Prof Kithure Kindiki who moved to University of Nairobi to be chair of Faculty of Law.
Back to her brother Ahmed, he is said to have consulted for the high and might in Moi regime including Nicholas Biwott, Benjamin Kulei among others, he is the brains behind the successful business empire (that employees thousands of Kenyans) of Mzee Moi and his associates thus making him a deep state operative and thus a strong pillar in his sister Amina’s career path.
CS Amina also gave out all her total self in making sure the Uhuru ICC case comes to a close with little impact and therefore Uhuru feels obligated to keep her above inflation. President Uhuru is known to be fiercely loyal to his friends and that is why Amina will continue to be kept on the payroll.
In 2017/8 it was alleged that a least Ksh437.7 million was spent in lobbying for her to be the African Union Commission chairperson, she lost Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat. This was Uhuru’s first attempt to offload her from the cabinet, back then there was rumours of her being in a cold war with her principal secretary Monica Juma who sources said is more technical and deep than Amina. She was deployed to Education docket paving way for Dr Juma to take over as the CS.
BACK TO THE WTO Director General bid
Amina’s bid for the WTO Director-General position has been dealt a blow after Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Egypt’s Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh joined the race.
Ms Amina is angling to succeed the current Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevêdo, who has announced he will step down on August 31, 2020.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a global finance expert, an economist and international development professional with over 30 years of experience working in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. Currently, Dr Okonjo-Iweala is Chair of the Board of Gavi, a Vaccine Alliance.
Previously, Dr Okonjo-Iweala twice served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions.
She also had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the number two position of Managing Director, Operations. As Managing Director of the World Bank, she had oversight responsibility for the World Bank’s $81 billion (over Ksh8 trillion) operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central Asia.
She is renowned as the first female and African candidate to contest for the presidency of the World Bank Group in 2012. Dr Okonjo-Iweala spearheaded several World Bank initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008-2009 food crisis and later during the financial crisis. In 2010, she was Chair of the World Bank’s successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low interest credit for the poorest countries in the world.
On the other hand, Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh from Egypt is a lawyer who has previously served WTO in several positions, starting from Senior Counsellor WTO Trade in Services Division between May 1993 – 2001.
He also served as the director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO between May 2001 to September 2017.
Currently, Mamdouh is into private sector as a legal counsel to companies and associations.
On her side, Amina Mohamed before joining government worked as an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UNEP from 2011 to 2013.
She has served as an ambassador, permanent secretary and now a cabinet secretary
Kenya will be seeking the backing of African countries to clinch the post, but with the entrant of two candidates from Africa, the support from African countries will be divided among the three. The country is also expected to reach out to other friendly countries outside the continent, an exercise that could gobble up close to a billion shillings.
Other candidates who have expressed interest in the position of WTO Director-General include Dr Jesús Seade Kuri (Mexico), Mr Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova), Ms Yoo Myung-hee (Korea), Mr Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia) and Dr Liam Fox (United Kingdom).
Source: www.kenyagist.com
