UNCTAD secretary general Mukhisa Kituyi has tendered his resignation as he focuses on his presidential ambitions.
Kituyi had announced in January that he will be among the Kenyans seeking the top leadership seat during the 2022 General Election.
Kituyi said he had decided to run for the presidency because the country was currently experiencing a "total vacuum in leadership" as plans for President Uhuru Kenyatta's succession take place.
“Every challenge is an opportunity for us, the challenge here is we have a flock without leadership and this is an opportunity for us to lead,” he said.
He became UNCTAD’s seventh secretary general on September 1, 2013, and his second term was to end in September this year.
Kituyi served the country as the Minister of Trade and Industry from 2002 to 2007 and had also been elected as an MP twice.
He had informed the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres about his resignation last month.
According to the UN press office, Mukhisa’s resignation will be effective on February 15, 2021.
He will be remembered for advanced work on trade, investment, finance, and technology while at the helm of UNCTAD.
Kituyi's place will be taken by Isabelle Durant in an acting position, who is the deputy secretary general of UNCTAD.
