Amina Mohamed

Amina Chawahir Mohamed Jibril (; , born 5 October 1961) is a former Kenyan cabinet secretary, lawyer and a diplomat of Somali descent. She is the immediate former Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Heritage and Culture in Kenya. She previously served as chairwoman of the International Organization for Migration and the World Trade Organization's General Council, as well as Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. She served as the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya from May 2013 to February 2018, when President Uhuru Kenyatta, after re-election, moved her to the Education docket. In March 2019, she was moved to the Sports Ministry replacing Rashid Echesa. The KNEC Director, George Magoha, replaced her in the Education docket.

Early life and education Mohamed was born on 5 October 1961 in Kakamega County, Kenya, to an ethnic Somali family. She is the eighth of nine siblings. Her family belongs to the Dhulbahante clan, and hails from the Sool region in Somalia. Mohamed spent her childhood in a modest household in Amalemba, Kakamega, where she passed much of her time reading Sherlock Holmes stories and other detective fiction. She later developed a taste for international affairs.

In 2002, Amina Mohamed married her late husband Khalid Ahmed Hossain, a Bengali businessman to whom she credited a lot of her success. Ms Mohamed has a son from her marriage to Mr Hossain, two step-children from Hossain's previous marriage, and also cares for four orphans.

Career

Legal advisor roles Mohamed began her career in 1985 as a legal officer at the Kenyan Ministry of Local Government. Her duties included assessing World Bank projects and tabling municipal by-laws. Among these were Bilateral Air Services Agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran and the United Kingdom, as well as the African Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although a number of job opportunities overseas were available, Mohamed chose to remain with her parents as her father was ailing. She was also a Member of the Executive Boards and Committees of the WIPO, ILO, WHO, UNCTAD, UNHCR and UNAIDS from 2001 to 2005. Between 2006 and 2007, Mohamed served as Director for both Europe and Commonwealth Countries as well as Diaspora matters for Kenya. She also chaired the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs' Committee on Strengthening and Restructuring. She was later sworn into office on 20 May 2013 at Sagana State Lodge. She is currently the chairwoman of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference. Despite lobbying for the role from the Kenyan government, Mohamed lost the position to Moussa Faki, the foreign affairs minister of Chad.

Other activities In late April 2017, she had a series of meetings with US officials such as Senator Bob Corker, Tom Shannon, and Constance Hamilton, where she urged the US to continue to interact with Kenya for the benefit of both nations. On 9 May 2017, she was honored by the Japanese government at the Imperial Palace for "promoting economic relations between Nairobi and Tokyo". She was the only African personally invested at the event with the award, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. At the time, CNBC wrote that Mohamed was "known as an excellent strategist with proven negotiation and managerial skills". On 20 May 2017, it was reported that Mohamed had met with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing, afterwards stating that she felt the meetings signaled possible renewed engagements between Kenya and Russia.

Cabinet Secretary for Education On 26 January 2018, President Kenyatta appointed Amina Mohammed to be the Education Cabinet Secretary for his second term. She pledged to continue with the reforms initiated by her predecessor Dr. Fred Matiang'i. Her Principal Secretary Ambassador Monica Juma was promoted to head the Foreign Affairs docket.

At the Education Ministry, Amina Mohammed was lauded for the administration of the 2018 national examinations. She also achieved a 93% transition of pupils finishing primary school to join high school – the highest in Kenyan history at the time. She also devised and implemented a Special Needs Education policy and restructured the Higher Education Loans Board, which provides student loans in Kenya. Her reforms in the Vocational Training Centres increased enrollment in vocational training by 100%. replacing the fired Rashid Echesa. She has called for more resource allocation to the Sports Ministry.

Nomination for Director-General of the WTO On 7 July 2020, Mohamed was nominated by Kenya for the position of WTO Director-General. She proceeded to the second round of the selection process, and was long seen as a frontrunner in diplomatic circles. By October 2020, the WTO's General Council selected two finalists – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Yoo Myung-hee – thereby eliminating Mohamed and two other candidates.

She sits on the Advisory Council of the Africa Prosperity Network, an organisation dedicated to mobilising Africa's private sector to own and drive with greater urgency the continent's economic integration agenda and in collaboration with political and institutional leadership.

Other activities International Olympic Committee (IOC), Member of the Ethics Commission

Honors Honors received by Mohamed include: Elder of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (EGH) Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (Cav.O.S.S.I.) Life Member of the Red Cross Society Member of the Life and Peace Institute International Advisory Council Honorary Doctorate from KCA University Member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on the Arctic Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2017) Member of the Strathmore Law School Advisory Board

Personal life

In 2002, Amina Mohamed married Khalid Ahmed Hossain, a successful businessman of Bengali descent (Kolkata, West Bengal). Her beloved husband passed away on 29 July 2021. Mr Hossain is survived by his wife Amina Mohamed, their shared son, two adult children from a previous marriage and the couple's four adopted children.