President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, August 30, announced that Kenya has decided to nominate Defence CS Monica Juma as its candidate for the office of Secretary General of the Commonwealth.
The Secretary General of the Commonwealth is an executive officer who runs the commonwealth - an organisation of 54 countries that were previously colonised by Britain.
The powerful office has traditionally been hotly contested and the occupant is usually the one who receives the majority votes from the collective heads of governments.
The incumbent, Patricia Scotland, was first elected in 2016 and although eligible to serve two terms - her request for a second term was rejected over complaints in the running of the secretariat.
If successful, Juma will be the seventh person and second woman to hold the office which is headquartered at Marlborough House in London, UK.
The position is a full-time job and she would have to leave Cabinet to take up the assignment. She will also be attending the United Nations General Assembly as an observer.
“It is my hope that the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit (CHOGM) will consider this nomination favourably,” Uhuru noted.
The President praised Juma for being a strategic leader who had set an indisputable track record.
He proceeded to mention that Juma was an exemplar of what the commonwealth holds because of her good knowledge of governance and good leadership skills.
“I have no doubt that Amb. Monica Juma will be a strong consensus candidate, who will deliver an effective secretariat driven by member state priorities,” the head of state mentioned.
Juma served as the Principal Secretary across several security departments in government which include Defence and Foreign affairs.
She was later promoted to Foreign Affairs CS before being moved to the Ministry of Defence where she currently serves.
She has been credited with leading Kenya's successful campaign for the UN Security Council which it won against Djibouti in 2020.
