The defeat of Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed in the race for the African Union Commission (AUC) Chair's post on Monday was a terrible loss for Kenya as a whole.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto had put up rigorous campaigns for Ms Mohamed across the continent with many Kenyans left questioning the benefits the nation would get from her candidature.
According to reports, the country spent about Sh350 Million in the lobbying exercise which started in 2016 when President Kenyatta nominated her for the position. Others indicated that the money could have reached Sh1 Billion considering the huge delegations and sub-committees established to campaign for Amina.
The campaign was so aggressive that Ms Mohamed spent most of her time travelling across Africa either with DP Ruto or President Kenyatta in order to persuade various Heads of State to vote for her.
The trips mostly made in private jet carried dozens of delegates from Kenya to back her.
Speaking during her well-wishing luncheon graced by First lady Margaret Kenyatta, Ms Mohamed disclosed that she had made trips to 52 countries out of the 54 African countries.
"I can tell you we have worked very hard. We covered 52 countries of the 54 African countries. Nobody else has done that, actually it has never been done before. This is the first time it has ever been done," the CS said.
According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, the President even sent her colleagues in the various department to lobby for her. More to it a 7-member Cabinet sub-committee headed by Education CS Fred Matiang'i was formed to help Mohamed clinch the plum job.
As part of the strategy, Ms Mohamed also had newspaper advertisements to publicise her bid.
The focus President Kenyatta had given the AU election came under heavy criticism from a section of Kenyans who claimed that it had distracted him from concentrating on essential issues affecting the country such as drought, doctors strike and the recent killing of Kenya Defence Forces soldiers in Somalia.
During the 28th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ms Mohammed was accompanied by President Kenyatta, her Principal Secretary Monica Juma, Tourism CS Najib Balala, Devolution's Mwangi Kiunjuri, National Assembly Aden Duale, Tetu MP Ndungu Gethenji among others.
Ms Mohamed was defeated by Chad's Foreign Affairs Minister Mousa Faki Mahamat who garnered 38 votes in the seventh round.
