Amb. Juma's withdrawal was officially confirmed on Tuesday, with the government citing division within the Commonwealth member states for the decision to quit the race.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Kenya had mobilised a majority of member states in support of Monica Juma but some were non-committal on their decision.
"Because the Commonwealth is a fraternal body, consensus is very important when it comes to a change of leadership. Kenya had managed to mobilise a majority of member states, over 30 of them, in support of Monica Juma,"
"We still had a few who felt that they were not yet ready. In the interest of harmony and fraternal relations with the Commonwealth we felt that we will back away from the contest for now," reads the statement.
Commonwealth is an association that brings together 54 countries in Africa, Asia, America, Europe and the Pacific that were majorly former British colonies.
CS Juma was seeking to succeed Dominican-born British diplomat Patricia Scotland who is the sixth Secretary-General of Commonwealth and the first woman to hold the post.
The elections for the top job are set for June in Kigali, Rwanda.
No comments:
Post a Comment