African leaders choose the foreign minister of Djibouti to chair the African Union Commission

The foreign minister of Djibouti was chosen by African leaders on Saturday to chair the commission that oversees the African Union, which is a continental organization.

In a vote at the AU conference in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf beat former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and former Madagascar Foreign Minister Richard Randriamandrato.

There are 55 member nations in the AU. The head of the commission, who also serves as the chief executive of the secretariat that runs the AU from Addis Ababa, is chosen by presidents or heads of state.

Moussa Faki of Chad, who has been in the position since 2017, will be replaced by Youssouf, who will be in office for four years. 

The outcome is a setback for the well-known Odinga, who looked to both domestic and foreign friends for backing.

The AU position would have been Odinga’s final attempt at public office. Over the course of three decades, the 80-year-old has run five times for Kenya’s presidency. His ascent to the prime ministership in 2008 following arduous talks to put a stop to postelection violence in Kenya that claimed at least 1,000 lives was the pinnacle of his lengthy and colorful career in local politics. 

Although Odinga is still well-liked in Kenya, some believed that his recent political partnership with the nation’s current president, William Ruto, betrayed decades of struggle for fair government in the east African nation. 

The emergence of military juntas in west Africa and a bloody uprising in eastern Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels have captured two key cities in recent days, are just two of the difficulties Youssouf faces in his role as head of the AU Commission. 

Since 2005, Youssouf has served as the foreign affairs minister of Djibouti.
Because of its alleged passivity or lack of a significant reaction to violent conflicts in many regions of Africa, the AU is sometimes criticized.