Djibouti’s Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has been elected as the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission. His election took place on Saturday during an AU summit overshadowed by concerns that the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo could escalate into a regional crisis.
Djibouti’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilyas Dawaleh, confirmed Youssouf’s victory in a post on the X platform.
Youssouf, who previously served as Djibouti’s ambassador to Egypt, has been the country’s Foreign Minister since 2005, serving under three different presidents.
According to News Central’s Bongani Siziba, Kenya’s candidate in the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson elections, Raila Odinga, has lost the race in the exercise that was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Although Kenya’s candidate in the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson elections, Odinga won the first two rounds of voting, he lost the next three rounds to Djibouti candidate Youssouf.
Raila garnered 20 votes against Mahamoud’s 18 in the first round, while Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar got 10 votes. There was one abstained vote.
In the second round, Raila got 22 votes, Mahamoud got 19, and Randriamandrato secured 7 votes. One nation abstained from the second round as well.
Odinga, came up short in the third round with 20 votes, losing to Mahamoud who rose to first place with 23 votes, while Randriamandrato got only 5 votes.
There was still one abstention, and Randriamandrato was eliminated from the election, leaving Raila head-to-head against Mahamoud.
Mahamoud maintained his lead in the fourth round, scoring 25 votes against Raila’s 21 votes. There was one spoilt vote while one nation abstained.
In the fifth round, Mahamoud garnered 26 votes while Raila got 21 votes, and one nation abstained from the vote.
Mahamoud maintained his lead into the sixth round, garnering a similar 26 votes, while Raila received 22 votes with one country abstaining.
Raila was then dropped from the vote, with Mahamoud remaining the only candidate in the seventh round, in a bid to secure two-thirds of the votes.
Mahamoud won the AUC Chair seat after garnering 33 votes, constituting the required two-thirds, in round 7. He will replace the outgoing Moussa Faki of Chad who has held the position for 8 years.
