All Set for the 2025 African Union Commission Elections

By Prince Kurupati

At the close of business day on August 6, 2024, the African Union Commission (AUC) closed its window for nominations of aspiring AUC chairpersons among other positions. In a transparent manner which is characteristic of the mission and vision of the Commission, correspondence was released that publicized the list of all successful nominations. Among these successful nominations was the name of the Right Honourable Raila Aomolo Odinga of Kenya.

Raila Odinga is a prominent opposition leader from Kenya who has been involved in politics for the better part of his adult life. Odinga is also a former Prime Minister of Kenya having served in that position during the Government of National Unity from 2008 to 2013. Despite being a key opposition figure, Odinga’s campaign for the AUC post has been backed by both the ruling and opposition parties in his native, Kenya.

Odinga will be facing three other strong opponents for the Chairperson post-Mahmoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti, Richard J Randriamandrato of Madagascar and Anil Kumarsingh Gayan of Mauritius. All four candidates are males from East Africa. All benefited from the last-minute decision by the AU Council of Ministers to drop the gender rule which stated that the current chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat’s successor should be female.

 As part of the application process to be considered as the next AUC Chairperson, the four candidates had to submit their curriculum vitae, along with vision statements outlining how they intend to advance the transformative agenda of the African Union and address existing and emerging challenges facing the continent.

Already, Odinga has launched a strong campaign which has seen him travel to various countries across the continent. On his campaign trail, Odinga is using his time as the AU Special Envoy for Infrastructure Development in Africa from 2018 to 2023 as his main selling point. While announcing his decision to run for the AUC chairperson post, Odinga said his time as an AU Special Envoy provided him “with a unique advantage to gain insights into every African country,” and as such he is “confident that by collaborating with these nations, he can uplift Africa.”

Odinga also stated that as one of his first and main priorities for the continent, he is going to plug the brain drain hole. Odinga said, “As a Pan-Africanist, I firmly believe that Africa should aspire for more. We deserve better… We must reverse this trend (brain drain) and harness all our resources for the accelerated socio-economic growth of our continent.” 

Owing to the last-minute change by the AU Council of Ministers to change the gender rule, the deputy chairperson will most likely be a female and will come from Northern Africa. For the deputy chairperson post, 6 nominations were successful and only two were for females. Namely, these are H.E. Ambassador Salma Malika Haddadi from Algeria and Dr. Hanan Morey from Egypt. The four other male candidates are from Egypt, Algeria, Libya and Morocco.

The election for the next AUC chairperson and other AUC posts will be held in February 2025. The next chair will be elected at the 38^th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The election will be by secret ballot. With the Eastern region submitting candidates for the role of chairperson and the Northern region submitting candidates for the deputy chairperson position, the remaining three regions that is, Central, Southern and Western regions submitted candidates for the six portfolios of commissioners.

Before the election that will be held at the 38^th AU Summit, a shortlisting process will have been conducted beforehand. This process will be conducted by a panel of eminent Africans, composed of five personalities, one per region. Among the criteria they will be looking at are generic leadership skills and competencies as well as expert and thematic skills for each portfolio. Namely, the five eminent Africans empanelled with conducting the shortlisting process are Prof. Paul Ngarambe of Burundi representing the Central Region, H.E. Amb. Konjit SineGiorgis of Ethiopia representing the Eastern Region, H.E. Amb. Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa representing the Southern Region, and H.E. Amb. Patrick Hayford of Ghana representing the Western Region. 

Also ahead of the elections, candidates vying for the position of the Chairperson of the Commission will participate in a televised debate broadcasted live to African citizens. The Africa Leadership Debate dubbed MjadalaAfrika is a platform that provides candidates with an opportunity to outline their vision of how they will lead the transformation of Africa through the implementation of the AU Mandate and Africa’s Agenda 2063. The debate allows African citizens and other stakeholders to put forward questions to the candidates on issues they want to be addressed on how to propel the continent’s growth and ensure Africa achieves its goals for integrated and sustainable development and becoming a major player in the Global Arena.

The commissioner positions which other candidates will be vying for are as follows:

• Commissioner of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development (ARBE)
• Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals (ETTIM)
• Commissioner of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI)
• Commissioner of Infrastructure and Energy (I&E)
• Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS)
• Commissioner of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS).