Win For Raila As AU Says It Is East Africa's Turn To Present Commission Chairperson Candidate

The African Union Executive Council on Friday, March 15 unanimously adopted a critical decision that it is the turn of the Eastern Africa region to submit candidates for the position of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC).

The pronouncement by the AU Executive Council thus allows Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga the right to contest the prestigious continental position, whose elections will be held in February 2025.

"This is a major breakthrough for the Eastern Africa region to present candidates for the position of Chairperson of the AUC," said Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.

Mudavadi, who actively lobbied for the adoption of the decision during the 22nd Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU, said the decision aligns with what Kenya has been pushing for.

The decision is per the Statute of the AU Commission, the Rules of Procedure of the African Union policy organs and the decisions of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

"It is now clear that the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga will be in the race for the AU Commission Chairperson," he said. "Effectively, there are no more technical or legal hurdles preventing Kenya from submitting its candidate."

The decision also provides that the Northern Africa region will front candidates for the Deputy Chairperson while the other three regions, Central, Southern and Western, will compete for the six positions of commissioners.

Mudavadi said Kenya will work closely within the 14 member-state Eastern Africa region to build consensus around its candidate.

These efforts are ongoing and will continue, to include all the other regions to ensure that the opportunity for electing effective leadership of the AUC provides a platform for uniting the entire continent.

The latest move extinguishes fears that Raila's bid would be at risk of being done away with owing to the AU permanent representative committee previously proposing a raft of changes to the election rules.

The changes had sought to bar member states that have previously held the chairperson and deputy chairperson seats from 2002 to date, from contesting in the upcoming elections at the next AU summit in 2025.

If the Heads of State and government had adopted the proposal, Odinga's bid for the chairperson seat would have come to an end because Kenya and Rwanda previously held the deputy chairperson position.

Kenya had Erastus Mwencha, who was deputy chairperson from 2008-2017 and Rwanda had Patrick Kayumba Mazimhaka from 2003 to 2008.

According to a 2018 decision, the chairperson post is rotational, meaning the next person to wield the post should come from the Eastern African region.

The proposals would have meant that Tanzania and the other countries in the Eastern region would qualify to present a candidate for the AU Commission's top job, thus complicating matters for Raila whom Kenya has endorsed, along with a section of countries in the East African Community (EAC).

Bird's eye view of the African Union headquarters. /QUARTZ