Win For Raila As Proposed Key Rule For AU Chairperson Post Dropped
Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga’s bid for the African Union (AU) chairperson position on Thursday, March 14 received a significant boost which smoothened his path to succeed Moussa Faki in February 2025.
A report from the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) indicated that regions should focus just on nominating candidates without gender restrictions.
A proposal earlier suggested a gender angle, with only female contenders being eligible in the next contest, even though the seat will be rotating to the Eastern Africa region.
“The PRC agreed on the non-application of gender rotation in the application of the principle of rotational gender parity. The PRC position aligns with Kenya’s interpretation of this principle,” read the report in part.
The Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) has agreed on the following recommendations to be incorporated into the Draft Decision to be presented to the Executive Council:
1. Inter-regional rotation: The PRC has agreed on Approach 2 option (b), meaning that the Eastern Africa region will be eligible to nominate candidates for the position of Chairperson, while the Northern Africa region will be eligible to nominate candidates for the position of Deputy Chairperson.
2. Intra-regional rotation: Intra-regional rotation should be based on regional consultations rather than English alphabetical order.
3. Rotational Gender parity: The PRC has agreed not to apply gender rotation in implementing the principle of rotational gender parity. This position aligns with Kenya’s interpretation of the principle. Thus, both the Eastern and Northern Africa regions are free to nominate candidates of either gender for the positions of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson respectively in the AUC election 2025.
4. Allocation of Commissioner’s Portfolios: The six (6) Commissioner posts will be open for competition by candidates nominated by the remaining three regions (Central, Southern, and Western Africa regions).
