Four senior African politicians from Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, and Mauritius have declared their candidacy for the African Union’s top office.
The pan-continental group, which comprises 55 member states, will hold elections at its February summit to select a successor to Moussa Faki Mahamat as chair of the African Union Commission.
This year’s job is allocated to an East African representative to succeed Faki, a Chadian seasoned politician who has been in office since 2017.
The African Union announced four candidates: Mahamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti, Raila Odinga of Kenya, Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar, and Anil Gayan of Mauritius.
“I am the only candidate capable of bridging the gap between the many parts of Africa,” claimed Djibouti’s Youssouf, who is also fluent in French, English, and Arabic.
Since 2005, the 58-year-old has served as the foreign minister of the small but strategically important Horn of Africa nation.
“My major goal if elected is to silence the firearms on the continent,” he told AFP in an interview last month.
His major competitor is veteran Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who, at 79, has attempted and failed five times to become president, most recently losing the 2022 election to William Ruto.
Odinga spent his early political career in prison or exile, battling for democracy under President Daniel Arap Moi’s dictatorial regime.
“We are dedicated to getting the seat back to Kenya and serving the African people,” Odinga stated on X last month, launching his formal candidacy.
Gayan, 76, was the foreign minister of Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation, from 1983 to 1986 and again from 2000 to 2003. He has also held positions in the tourism and health ministries.
Randriamandrato served as Madagascar’s foreign minister from March to October 2022 but resigned after voting at the United Nations to criticize Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian provinces.
Madagascar has remained neutral in the conflict in Ukraine.
The election is performed by secret ballot, and the winner must get a two-thirds majority of votes from qualifying member states.
The chair of the AU commission, who is effectively the body’s CEO, holds a four-year term that is renewable once.