Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf wins race for AUC chairmanship, Raila concedes defeat
Mahmoud garnered 33 votes, the two-thirds threshold on the seventh round after Raila Odinga of Kenya dropped out on round six after getting 22 votes
Foreign Affairs minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti is the new African Union Commission (AUC) chairman dealing a blow to Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s bid for the coveted seat.
Mahamoud garnered 33 votes, the required two-thirds threshold in the seventh round after Raila dropped out on round six after getting 22 votes.
Raila has since conceded defeat and wished Yusuf success saying the vote demonstrates commitment for democracy adding that his focus now shifts back home in Kenya where he has “a lot to do”. He said.
He replaces the outgoing chairperson Moussa Faki of Chad who held the position for two terms (eight years).
Raila was eliminated after he lost momentum after the first two rounds leaving Djibouti’s candidate in pole position heading to the final round alone.
In the first two rounds of the voting, Raila won but he went on to lose the next three rounds to Mahamoud.
During the first round, Raila garnered 22 votes against Mahamoud’s 18, while Richard Randriamandrato, Madagascar’s former Foreign minister, bagged 10 votes and one Head of State abstained.
In the second round, the former prime minister secured 20 votes while Mahamoud got 18 as Randriamandrato received 10 votes and one nation abstained from the second round as well.
During the third round, the ODM leader came up short in the third round after maintaining 20 votes, losing to Mahamoud who rose to first place with 23 votes, while Randriamandrato came third with 5 votes.
Randriamandrato was eliminated in the race during the third round leaving Raila head-to-head against Mahamoud.
The Djibouti candidate maintained the lead in the fifth and sixth rounds where he secured 25, and 26 votes while Raila got 21 votes in both rounds.
Mahamoud maintained his lead in the fourth round, scoring 25 votes against Raila’s 21 votes. There was one spoilt vote while one nation abstained.
It was then that Raila was dropped from the vote, with Mahmoud remaining the only candidate in the succeeding rounds, in a bid to secure two-thirds of the votes.
If Mahamoud had failed 33 out of the 49 votes in the seventh round, the election would have been suspended and the person who will be elected vice chairperson would have acted in the position until next year when the AU Heads of State Summit is to take place.
