Africa’s dream to have the Africa Union-endorsed candidate Dr Walter Mzembi elected to the top UNWTO post has been dealt a major blow after losing narrowly to Georgia’s Georgia’s Zurab Pololikashvili.
Dr Mzembi, who is Zimbabwe’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, came second after amassing 15 votes, while the Georgian candidate got 18 votes during the second round of polls.
Zimbabwe (Mzembi) 15
Africa has to wait longer before the dream of having an African leading the UN tourism agency is realised.
Hopes were raised after the AU candidate managed to take an impressive lead during the first round of polls, garnering a total of 11 votes with Georgia’s candidate in second place with 8 votes.
Georgia 8
South Korea 7
Brazil 4
Colombia 3
Dr Mzembi was one of the favourites to win the race and failed to register the required 17 votes, missing the target by a mere 2 votes.
It is back to the drawing board for the Zimbabwean team.
The election was meant to select the successor to the outgoing UNWTO Secretary General Dr Talib Rifai of Jordan.
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