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.
