2025 African Union Commission Chairperson election

2025 AUC Chairperson election

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February 2025

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55 eligible^{[Note 1]} votes of the AU member states
two-thirds votes needed to win


Candidate	Raila Odinga	Fawzia Yusuf Adam	Mahamoud Ali Youssouf
Country	Kenya	Somalia	Djibouti
Region	East Africa	East Africa	East Africa

Incumbent Commission Chair

Moussa Faki

An African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson election will be held in February 2025 to choose the fifth Commission Chair to succeed incumbent Chairperson Moussa Faki.^[1]

Background

Candidates can be nominated until May 2024. The new chair will be elected at the 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2025. The AU Assembly will elect the chair by secret ballot.^[2]

Past chairpersons have hailed from western, central and southern regions of the African Union. The AU Executive Council has asserted the right of the East African region to produce the next chairperson and North Africa will therefore vie for the deputy chairperson post.^[3]

Candidates

Official candidates
Image	Name	Prior experience	Nominator	Endorsements	Vote pledges
	Fawzia Yusuf Adam^[4]	Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (2012–2014)	Somalia^[5]		1
	Raila Odinga^[6]	Former AU High Representative for Infrastructure Development (2018–2023) Former Prime Minister (2008–2013)	Kenya^[7]	Angola^[8] Central African Republic^[9] Equatorial Guinea^[9] Ghana^[10] Guinea-Bissau^[9] Rwanda^[11] Uganda^[7] East African Community^{[Note 2]}^[12] Declared by the candidate: DR Congo^[13] South Africa^[13] South Sudan^[13] Tanzania^[13]	12
	Mahamoud Ali Youssouf	Foreign Minister (2005–)	Djibouti^[14]		1

Potential candidates

Name	Prior experience	Country	Regional group
Hery Rajaonarimampianina^[15]	Former President (2014–2018)	Madagascar	East Africa
Jakaya Kikwete^[1]^[6]	African Union High Representative for Libya (2016–), former President (2005–2015), former African Union Chairperson (2008–2009), former Foreign Minister (1995–2005) He has played a pivotal role in peace processes in the Arusha Accords (Burundi), Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis, Operation Democracy in Comoros, 2008–2009 Zimbabwean political negotiations and 2009 Malagasy political crisis.^[16]	Tanzania	East Africa
Specioza Kazibwe^[6]	Former Vice President (1994–2013)	Uganda	East Africa
Uhuru Kenyatta^[6]^[17]	East African Community–Led Nairobi Process Facilitator (2022–) of peace talks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo Former President (2013–2022)	Kenya	East Africa

Notes

^ As of April 2024, six member states are currently suspended.
^ According to Kenyan President William Ruto.

References

^ ^a ^b "Raila Odinga's bid for AU chair wins consensus in Nairobi". Africa Confidential. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
^ Kipkemoi, Felix (5 March 2024). "EXPLAINER: How AU Commission chair election is conducted". The Star. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
^ Mutambo, Aggrey (15 March 2024). "Raila Odinga's path to African Union Commission chair post gets easier". The East African. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
^ "Fowzia Yusuf Haji Aden Nominated by Somalia for African Union Commission Chairperson". Mustaqbal Media. 14 January 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
^ @SomaliPM (January 14, 2024). "FawziaYusufAdam will represent the government of Somalia in the race for the Chairman of the African Union Commission." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mutambo, Aggrey (18 February 2024). "Raila's AU Commission job hunt may prove to be an apt exit or trapdoor". The East African. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
^ ^a ^b @RailaOdinga (February 26, 2024). "I am very grateful to President Museveni for strongly endorsing my candidacy and to President Ruto for fully backing it" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Otieno, Otieno (9 April 2024). "Angola signals support for Raila Odinga's AU Commission bid". The Nation. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nyarangi, Edwin (9 April 2024). "Ruto in shuttle diplomacy over Raila's AUC bid". The Standard. Retrieved 10 April 2024. Ruto secured the support of Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo, Central Africa Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera, Guinea Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Equitorial Guinea Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.
^ @StandardKenya (April 3, 2024). "Ghana to support Raila.. while Kenya will back Ghana's FM for Commonwealth SG post" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ Ogetta, Daniel (12 March 2024). "President Kagame endorses Raila Odinga's bid for AU job". The Nation. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
^ Thiong’o, Josphat (6 March 2024). "Ruto pitches for Raila's bid at EA meeting". The Standard. Retrieved 2024-03-06. We have consulted as Heads of State.. and we have agreed to sponsor one candidate as East Africans.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Munene, Cynthia (29 February 2024). "Raila Says 7 African Presidents Have Endorsed His AU Bid". Citizen TV. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
^ "Communiqué". Présidence de la République de Djibouti. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
^ "Hery Rajaonarimampianina sees himself as next AU Commission chairperson". Africa Intelligence. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
^ "Profiles of AU Special Envoys, High Representatives, Special Representatives, and the Panel of the Wise". African Union, Peace and Security Dept. September 2022. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
^ Ngetich, Jacob (February 2024). "Why Uhuru shelved AU job bid in favour of Raila". The Standard. Retrieved 2024-03-03.

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