Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – The chances of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga becoming the next African Union Commission Chairperson are growing slimmer with each passing day.
This is after the Executive Council Ministerial meeting
decided to include the gender requirement in the election of AU leaders.
In the concluded meeting, the council gave the Eastern wing
of the union the power to appoint the chairperson.
Subsequently, the Northern region will be tasked with
producing the deputy chairperson while Western, Central, and
Southern regions will submit candidates for the remaining posts of six
commissioners.
The council, however, decided that the two top positions
should be occupied by two different genders meaning that if the elected
chairperson is male, then his deputy must be female and vice versa.
"The Eastern region shall submit candidates for the
position of the chairperson. The Northern region shall submit candidates for
the position of the deputy chairperson," the council directed.
"Both regions can submit male and female candidates.
The gender of the elected Chairperson will determine the gender of the Deputy
Chairperson to be elected."
The council had embarked on a high-level meeting in
mid-March ahead of the February 2025 elections to consider the report on the
preparation for the election of senior leadership.
The ministers were expected to discuss the modalities of
regional rotation and gender parity for fair distribution of the leadership.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga had expressed his
interest in ascending to the chairperson seat and subsequently kicked off a
campaign for votes.
So far, Raila's bid has received backing from international
leaders including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his political
foe President William Ruto, among other East African presidents.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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