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Ruto, Raila at 38th African Union Summit in Addis

Ruto, Raila at 38th African Union Summit in Addis

By  Justus Ochieng'

What you need to know:

  • Heads of State and Governments will in the afternoon elect the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson in a closed-door, secret ballot session. 
  • Mr Odinga is facing off with Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and former Madagascar Foreign Minister Richard James Randriamandrato.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

President William Ruto is currently attending the 38th African Union Summit, ahead of the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson elections, where former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is a candidate.

President Ruto led a delegation of Kenyans to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, including Mr Odinga, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and a host of other leaders.

Related

Heads of State and Governments will in the afternoon elect the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson in a closed-door, secret ballot session. 

Candidates must secure a 2/3 majority from 49 eligible member States (six countries under sanctions will not vote). The six are Gabon, Niger, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

For the AUC chairperson post, Mr Odinga, 80, is facing off with Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (60) and former Madagascar Foreign Minister Richard James Randriamandrato (66).

Those gunning for Deputy AUC chairperson post are Salah Francis (65) and Selma Malika (48) both from Algeria, Mohamed Fathi Ahmed (65)  and Hanan Morsy (50) from Egypt, Najat Elhjjaji (73) from Libya, and Latifa Akharbach (65) from Morocco.

Dr Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, is hosting the Summit.

Outgoing AUC Chairperson Moussa Faki, in his statement, lauded President Ruto (the new champion of AU reforms) and his predecessor, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, for championing reforms of the continental body.

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has called for peaceful processes to end regional conflicts.

"The crisis in the DRC must end and we must embrace peaceful processes to end conflicts through meaningful dialogue," he said of the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).