The second leg of shuttle diplomacy to campaign for Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed’s candidacy for African Union Commission chairperson begins this week.
Kenya has put up spirited and well-funded campaigns for Mohamed. At least 35 of the 53 member countries will have to vote for her if she has to occupy the seat.
Nineteen Comesa countries have pledged their support.
Deputy President William Ruto returned to the country on Saturday after lobbying West Africa and parts of East Africa.
“This is part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s commitment to ensuring African institutions have robust leadership that delivers on the continent’s agenda, including the ambitious Agenda 2063,” State House said on Sunday.
“Kenya remains encouraged by progress made in the campaigns. The EAC endorsement followed that by Comesa and Somalia’s announcement of the first vote at the election.”
Comesa is a 19-country free-trade bloc, but its members also belong to other regional communities.
“You can expect to see more of the travel, as Kenya robustly seeks an African consensus on Mohamed’s candidacy. That can only be achieved if the President reaches out to all the continent’s leaders, which is what he is doing,” State House added.
Mohamed is contesting against Botswana’s Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, Equatorial Guinea’s Foreign minister Agapito Mba Mokuy and Senegal’s Abdoulaye Bathily.
Malawi and Madagascar, which belong to SADC, have pledged to support the CS.
The elections are slated for January 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the headquarters of the AU.
On Monday next week when the President hosts the State House Diplomacy Summit, Mohamed will update Kenyans on the gains made since the campaigns began.
