Kenya's contestant for the African Union Commission  Chairperson's position Raila Odinga (R) embraces the current holder, Moussa Faki Mahamat. Three other men are eyeing the job. PHOTO | FILE
No woman is seeking the AU Commission Chairperson’s position, come 2025. The final shortlist to be tabled before a Panel of Experts for vetting is an all-male contest, meaning the next deputy chairperson will be female from Northern Africa. The candidates are Kenya's former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssou, former Mauritius Foreign Minister Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, and Richard James Randriamandrato, a former Madagascar Foreign Minister, who was sacked in October 2022 for voting for a UN resolution that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Madagascar said at the time he had violated their neutrality stance.
The list will be subjected for vetting by a panel including Burundian academic Paul Ngarambe, Ethiopian diplomat Konjit SineGiorgis, Patrick Hayford of Ghana and South Africa's Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko.
They will interview the candidates on their vision for Africa and assess their qualifications to lead the continental body. One of those qualifications is at least a post-graduate qualification.
Under the AU's new rotational system, the Chairperson's seat will only be contested by countries in the Eastern region, while the deputy will go to the North. The chairperson and deputy cannot be of the same gender.
From the Eastern region, Fawzia Adam, a former Somalia Foreign Minister who had expressed interest in the seat, dropped out.
Sources told The EastAfrican that Mogadishu declined to back her, seeing the political value in backing another candidate instead. Ms Adam did not respond to our request for comment.
Seychelles had initially backed its former Foreign Minister ,Vincent Meriton, for the post. He, however, withdrew on health grounds.
Only candidates nominated through the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps of Eastern region at the AU would be considered for the post. The deadline passed on August 6.
After the panel vets and endorses the candidates, they will have to attend a public televised debate to discuss their visions. Eligible AU member states will then vote for their preferred candidate in February 2025 in a secret ballot.
The outright winner must get at least two-thirds of the votes of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government. If not, several rounds are taken, in which the winner gets a simple majority.
