The African Union, a continental organization consisting of 55 African Member States, will hold elections at its summit later this week to choose a successor to Moussa Faki Mahamat, outgoing chairperson of the African Union Commission. The election is conducted by secret ballot.
AU chairperson helps develop Africa’s path to peace and prosperity
The chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) is the chief executive officer exercising administrative, legal, and financial functions. The AU Commission chair also helps develop a roadmap for a continent-wide, integrated transformative economy, and a prosperous and peaceful Africa. The current geopolitical situation requires engaging in beneficial relations with external development partners for the continent.
Candidates from Africa’s central, western, and southern regions have already served as chairpersons. This implies that the next chairperson will likely be from southern or eastern Africa. Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are now, by geographical definition, southern and /or eastern African and can produce candidates for the position of chairperson. One of the basic key criteria is the candidate must be a former president, former prime minister, or former foreign minister.
Meet the candidates
Raila Odinga of Kenya, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti, and Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar are this year’s candidates.
On December 13, the three discussed their visions for the continent in a first-ever election debate broadcast from the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
All addressed the issues of security in Africa, the economic integration of the continent, and AU reforms.
Raila Odinga is a veteran politician from Kenya. He ran for the country’s presidency five times but never won. He also served as African Union High Representative for Infrastructure from 2018-2023.
“We are focused on bringing the seat home for Kenya and serving the African people,” Odinga said on X while announcing his formal candidacy.
Richard Randriamandrato was Madagascar’s foreign minister from March to October 2022. He also served as minister of economy and finance from 2019 until 2021. He worked to stabilize and develop Madagascar’s economy.
Beyond his ministerial roles, he was involved in strategic foresight and economic intelligence advising on regional infrastructure and development projects.
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, is the current foreign affairs minister in Djibouti, a position he has held since 2005.
Youssouf believes that although Djibouti is a small country with a sizable port, his government hopes to develop its economy along the same lines as Dubai. He envisions a more united Africa if he becomes AU Commission chair.
“I am the only candidate capable of bridging the gap between the different regions of Africa, being French-speaking, but also English-speaking and Arabic-speaking,” Youssouf has previously said in interviews.
Election process
In the election for the chairperson, voting continues until one of the candidates obtains a two-thirds majority.
The voting process begins with all the candidates on the ballot. Voting is conducted three times and if the third ballot remains inconclusive without any candidate garnering the two-thirds majority, the next ballot shall be restricted to the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes, and the candidate with fewer votes is withdrawn.
The election is either suspended for at least six months or an extraordinary is called to resolve the matter if the remaining candidate fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required in that round.
