... Mr Orina was in second place after the first round of voting by 183 UN
member countries. He won 74 votes, compared to 90 for Mr Seyoum and 73 for
Mr Sene.......
By KEVIN J KELLEY
November 13 2012 at 16:33
In Summary
* President Mwai Kibaki had lobbied for Mr Orina's selection during
the head of state's visit to the UN in September
United Nations member states on Friday turned down Kenya's candidacy for a
seat on a powerful UN committee that addresses budgetary and administrative
matters.
George Morara Orina, a Counsellor at Kenya's UN mission in New York, was
eliminated in the second round of voting for two Africa seats on the
Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions.
President Mwai Kibaki had lobbied for Mr Orina's selection during the head
of state's visit to the UN in September.
Elected as Africa representatives for three-year terms on the 16-member
panel were candidates from Senegal and Eritrea.
Kenyan UN Ambassador Macharia Kamau said after the vote that the rejection
of Mr Orina was "inexplicable."
Eritrea's Tesfa Alem Seyoum finished first in the five-way contest for the
two seats even though the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on
Eritrea for materially aiding Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.
Babou Sene of Senegal won the other Africa seat on the committee.
Mr Orina was in second place after the first round of voting by 183 UN
member countries. He won 74 votes, compared to 90 for Mr Seyoum and 73 for
Mr Sene.
But in the next round, the Eritrean collected 104 votes and the Senegalese
candidate got 99, both more than the majority required for election.
Mr Orina received 84 votes to finish third in a race that also included
candidates from Botswana and Benin.
Kenya is expected to fare favourably in voting on Monday for a seat on the
UN's Human Rights Council.
Kenya and Ethiopia are the only candidates for two open council slots for
the East Africa sub-region.
