Kenyan candidate beaten by Korean in race to head IMO

Mr Juvenal Shiundu was Africa’s only nominee to vie for the powerful post of International Maritime Organisation secretary-general. PHOTO | www.staticflickr.com 

By George Omondi

In Summary

• Mr Lim garnered more than half the 40 votes from IMO Council members, beating Kenya’s bet, Juvenal Shiundu and four other contenders who were fronted by Cyprus, Denmark, the Philippines and Russia.

Another Asian candidate – South Korea’s Lim Ki-Tack - has been elected today to replace Japan’s Koji Sekimizu as the next secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), dashing Kenya’s hope of holding the powerful post in the next four years.

Mr Lim garnered more than half the 40 votes from IMO Council members, beating Kenya’s bet, Juvenal Shiundu and four other contenders who were fronted by Cyprus, Denmark, the Philippines and Russia.

It took five rounds of voting at the IMO’s London headquarters before Mr Lim could marshal simple majority to be declared winner. He will assume leadership of the UN maritime agency on January 1, 2016 for a four-year term.

The election of the Mr Sekimizu’s successor was one of the items on the agenda of IMO council which began its 114th session on Monday, up to July 3.

Throughout the heated campaigns for the post, the African port states had rallied behind Mr Shiundu, a Kenyan naval architect currently working at the IMO’s Headquarters as the deputy director and head of programme management.

Through their lobby, the Pan African Association for Port Cooperation, the African states said Mr Shiundu was best placed to occupy the position that has eluded Africa since IMO was established in 1958.

As the IMO boss, Mr Kim is expected to handle maritime pollution, training and mass migration of Africans to Europe through Mediterranean Sea.