The nomination of Amina Mohamed for the position of AU Commission Chairperson was followed by a sustained campaign by the Kenyan government as it lobbied for her election.
Despite being regarded as the frontrunner, Ms Mohamed on Monday lost the coveted position to Moussa Mahamat from the little-known Chad.
It has now become apparent that some experts had already predicted the reasons that would lead to Kenya’s loss.
1. Anglophone vs Francophone Rotation
A few days to the AU elections, a Kenyan website, businesschronicles.co.ke predicted that Ms Mohamed would lose the AU Chairperson’s position since her successor, Dlamini-Zuma, was from South Africa (an Anglophone- English speaking country).
Ms Zuma had taken over the continental position from Jean Ping from Guinea (a Francophone - French speaking).
The tradition had been that the seat would be rotated between the French-speaking countries and the English-speaking members.
To complicate the situation, the Anglophone countries are the dominant in the AU and are known to vote in solidarity.
2. Gender Factor
The AU Chairperson seat is also said to have its own share of gender politics, and this hurt Ms Mohamed’s bid to replace Ms Zuma - another female.
3. Religion
The Kenyan Foreign Affairs Secretary was further disadvantaged by the fact that she is Muslim.
This may have discouraged some of the delegates from the non-muslim countries.
Even among the Muslim part of the continent, many of the Islamic leaders disdain women who seek positions of authority and many have contributed to her unexpected loss.
