Francis Muli
The Kenyan government has hired a flight which will cost at least Ksh 13 million for Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed’s interview in Geneva, Switzerland, for the World Trade Organisation’s job.
The Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has already flown out of the country and is expected to land in Geneva, Switzerland for an in-person interview as Kenya’s candidate for the WTO Director-General position.
Ms Amina flew out aboard a government-chartered Phoenix Aircraft registration 5Y-PAA alongside her delegation.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the Embassy of Switzerland in Nairobi seeking flight clearance for CS Amina’s chartered plane to land and overfly the country.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya presents its compliments to the Embassy of Switzerland in Nairobi and has the honour to request the assistance of the embassy in obtaining of diplomatic clearance for Government of Kenya Chartered Phoenix Aircraft Type: C680, with Registration: 5Y-PAA, scheduled to overfly/land Switzerland airspace and land In Geneva between 13th – 14th July 2020 while conveying Amb. (Dr.) Amino Mohamed, EGH. CAV, the Cabinet Minister for Sports, Culture and Heritage of the Republic of Kenya and her delegation from Nairobi to Geneva and back for an in-person interview as Kenya’s candidate for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO),” read the letter in part.
CS Amina’s delegation is expected to land in Geneva sometime tonight and fly out immediately after the interview tomorrow. It’s not clear who accompanied her in the journey.
So far eight candidates have expressed their interest in the position which fell vacant after Mr Roberto Azevêdo, the outgoing director-general announced that he will step down on August 31, 2020.
Amina is, however, facing stiff competition from two African candidates, Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Egypt’s Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh.
Other candidates who have expressed interest in the position of WTO Director-General include Dr Jesús Seade Kuri (Mexico), Mr Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova), Ms Yoo Myung-hee (Korea), Mr Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia) and Dr Liam Fox (United Kingdom).
The WTO has three main functions: help negotiate multilateral trade deals, settle cross-border commercial squabbles and serve as a repository for members’ trade policies.
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