Djibouti’s foreign minister has sprang an unlikely surprise by beating former Kenyan prime minister Raila Odinga to the presidency of the African Union Commission in a vote held at the organisation’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday.
Odinga who was seen as the clear favourite in the race to replace Moussa Faki Mahamat came second best to Mahamoud Ali Youssouf who polled 33 votes.
The other contender for the job was Madagascar’s Richard Randriamandrato.
Youssouf 59, beat the odds which were heavily stacked in favour of 80-year-old Kenyan political heavyweight Odinga, who conducted a spirited campaign which revolved around securing two permanent seats for Africa at the UN Security Council.
Ali Youssouf’s campaign rhetoric echoed the need to bolster regional security and facilitate the emergence of Africa speaking with one voice on the global stage. He is also an ardent believer in reforms at the AU Peace and Security Council to render it more effective in tackling raging conflicts across the continent.
Randriamandrato had emphasised economic development through the serious application of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Meanwhile the Algerian Selma Malika has been elected as the incoming AUC Deputy Chairperson while Angolan President João Lourenço assumes the AU chairmanship for 2025, taking over the rotating chair from his Mauritanian counterpart Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani.
MG/as/APA