According to this news article http://bit.ly/14zrBNB, Kenya has sent a strongly worded letter to the Chair of the WTO General Council alleging specific irregularities in the round one selection process that resulted in both African candidates, including the impressive Kenyan Amina Mohamed, being eliminated from the race. Kenya claims: "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.” “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.” Basically, Kenya is saying that, by breaking the agreed norm that only four preferences could be expressed, the Chair made it easy for the EU to ensure that no African candidate went forward.
Kenya has also threatened to veto the final outcome of the selection process if its due process concerns are not addressed. I would not be surprised if other African countries followed suit. Even if a new DG appointment were somehow shoved through despite a tainted process, what kind of legitimacy would that person then have? This may be a rare opportunity for President Obama, who has Kenyan roots, to intervene, indicating that the US would have little interest in cooperating with a WTO DG whose selection was based on improper exclusion of African candidates from the race.
Amina Mohamed deserves to be there.
