Kenya protests ‘irregular’ removal of candidate from WTO race

Amina Mohamed (pictured) and Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Ghana’s Trade minister, were the only candidates from Africa among the front-runners to replace Pascal Lamy as WTO director-general. They were both in the first round of the consultations. Photo/FILE  AFP

 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO

In Summary

• In a terse letter to the chairman of the WTO general council, Shahid Bashir, Kenya termed Ms Mohamed’s elimination irregular and threatened to veto the final outcome of the exercise if due process is not followed in the remaining phases.
• Daniel Owoko, one of Kenya’s representatives in the selection process, said Kenya has demanded that the WTO adopts the letter as part of its official communication and circulates it among all the 159 members.

Kenya has formally complained to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the manner in which its candidate for the agency’s top job Amina Mohamed was bundled out of the race in the preliminary stage.

In a terse letter to the chairman of the WTO general council, Shahid Bashir, Kenya termed Ms Mohamed’s elimination irregular and threatened to veto the final outcome of the exercise if due process is not followed in the remaining phases.

The WTO regulations require consensus by all members before one can be declared the director-general.

“Further to our statement made to the general council heads of department meeting on April 12, 2013,

Kenya wishes to state that we remain convinced that the selection process for round one consultations was grossly flawed and has eroded the credibility of the entire process,” the letter says.

Ms Mohamed and Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Ghana’s Trade minister, were the only candidates from Africa in the race to succeed French Pascal Lamy as WTO director-general. Mr Lamy is retiring in August.

The African candidates were, however, eliminated last week in the first round of the consultations along with their counterparts from Costa Rica and Jordan, sparking anger from home countries and their backers in Africa.

READ: Kenyan stumbles in race for WTO post

Diplomats involved in the selection process said a negative vote by the 28-member European Union (EU) ended Africa’s hope of succeeding Mr Lamy.

They have also questioned why some parties such as the European bloc were allowed to provide up to five preferences to the troika — the selecting team — instead of the agreed four.

“By allowing a member, whether a bloc or an individual State to deviate from expressing four preferences, you contravened the guidelines and procedures that you outlined to members,” Kenya says in the protest letter dated April 17, 2013.

“Furthermore, any member who expressed more than four preferences, not only displayed a lack of respect for the troika and the rules adopted for the consultations but also undermined the troika’s integrity and the trust members bestowed on you.”

Daniel Owoko, one of Kenya’s representatives in the selection process, said Kenya has demanded that the WTO adopts the letter as part of its official communication and circulates it among all the 159 members.

“We want it to go on record that the process was flawed right from the start and we are not happy with it. We want all members of the WTO to know the basis of our complaints so that we are not taken for mere crying babies,” he told Business Daily from Geneva.

Mr Owoko said Kenya would consult with Africa and other regions whose candidates lost in the first round of selection to “find a common ground on the intrigues that marred the process.”

READ: Europe risks trade clash with Africa over WTO job

 Mr Bashir last week admitted that some parties listed more than four preferences but maintained that it did not affect the outcome of the first round of consultations.

“While some members from different geographic regions and recognised categories of members expressed five preferences and some fewer than four, the vast majority expressed four. The fact that some delegations deviated from four preferences did not affect the results in this round,” he said.

Kenya, however, maintained that it did not have faith in the process and urged the WTO general council to review the manner in which it is handling the process.

“We are convinced that now is the opportunity to restore both the credibility of the process and ensure that a candidate who enjoys the widest support of members becomes the next director general,” Kenya said.

Kenya said it could take to drastic measures such as blocking the final choice if the general council failed to observe the laid-down procedure.

“Kenya will therefore retain her right not to join the consensus until we are satisfied that the next stages of the selection process have adhered strictly to the rules and procedures in a transparent and unambiguous manner,” the letter says.

The second phase of consultations began on Tuesday with five candidates in the race. Brazil’s WTO ambassador Roberto Azevedo and Mari Pangetsu of Indonesia are seen as favourites in diplomatic circles.

Others are Mexico’s Herminio Blanco Mendoza, South Korean Taeho Bark and Tim Groser of New Zealand.

An informal meeting of heads of delegation on March 13, 2013 agreed that the selection process conducted in three rounds with only two candidates making it to the final round.