AU Commission elects new chairperson

The leaders of African Union countries have elected Djibouti’s foreign minister, Mahmoud Youssouf, as the chairperson of the AU Commission.

Mr Youssouf was elected on Saturday during the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The summit was attended by African leaders including President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria.

Mr Youssouf emerged the winner of the keenly contested election, defeating Kenya’s former prime minister, Raila Odinga, and Madagascar’s former foreign minister, Richard Randriamato.

Mr Youssouf, who will serve a four-year term, replaces Moussa Faki of Chad, who has held the position since 2017.

Djibouti’s foreign minister, Mahmoud Youssouf

He won the election in the seventh round with 33 votes after Mr Odinga was eliminated.

He will now head the AU’s secretariat and is responsible for implementing AU policies and decisions.

All 55 member states participated in the election except the six countries suspended from membership.

The election process

The outcome is a huge blow to Mr Odinga, who had rallied support from both domestic and international allies.

Before the elections, his campaign team had bragged that he had support from at least 21 countries.

Supported by Kenyan President William Ruto, Mr Odinga campaigned across the continent and joined the president on international trips to rally support from other African leaders.

While he took an early lead, having the highest votes in the first round of the election, he dropped to second in the third round with 20 votes. Mr Youssouf won the round with 23 votes, and Richard Randriamandrato dropped out of the race with 5 votes.

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Mr Youssouf also won the fourth round with 25 votes, while Mr Odinga had 21. In this round, there was one spoilt vote and two abstentions.

In the fifth round, Mr Youssouf won with 26 votes. He also secured 26 votes in the sixth round, while Mr Odinga received 22.

However, this was not enough to keep Mr Odinga in the race, as the AU election rule dictates that the candidate with fewer votes is withdrawn from the race if neither of the candidates obtains the majority required.

Only the candidate with the highest vote proceeded to the next round and was declared the winner.