Kenya’s Past AU Leadership Bids: A Look at Key Contests Ahead of Raila’s AUC Bid

All eyes will be on Addis Ababa on Saturday, February 15, as the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship election is set to take place.

Kenyans will be particularly interested in the event since one of the country’s most celebrated politicians and opposition leader, Raila Odinga, is in contention to become the new AUC chair.

It will, however, not be an easy task for Odinga, who comes up against Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Yousouff (MAY) and Madagascar’s Richard J. Randriamandrato—two brilliant minds with extremely impressive CVs as far as leadership is concerned.

If Raila emerges victorious in the AUC election, he will make history as the first Kenyan to win the coveted continental seat.

Has any other Kenyan contested the AUC seat before?

Contrary to Ida Odinga’s recent claim during a prayer session that Raila is the first Kenyan to vie for the position, there was a previous attempt by another Kenyan.

In 2017, Amina Mohamed lost to Chad’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, but her loss alone does not tell the whole story. Despite securing a narrow lead with 16 votes in the first round, the election continued through seven more rounds, as the rules required a two-thirds majority vote for a winner to be declared.

The contest concluded in the seventh round when Faki emerged victorious after obtaining 38 votes, exceeding the required two-thirds threshold.

According to ambassadors at the time, Kenya failed to convince some of its closest allies from East Africa to vote for Amina.

Faki brought significant experience to the role, having served as Chad’s Prime Minister from 2003 to 2005 and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017. He had also held prestigious international positions, chairing both the African Union Peace and Security Council in September 2013 and the UN Security Council in December 2015.

At the time, South Sudan’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, James Morgan, gave interesting insights into the race, claiming nations like Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Tanzania did not vote for Kenya during the crucial stages.

The then-President, Uhuru Kenyatta, was also faulted for leaving the AU complex early after the vote, without engaging the media or other leaders at the event—something analysts at the time claimed worked against Kenya’s chances of clinching the seat.

Four years after Amina Mohamed’s loss, Kenya had another shot at a continental seat when Justice William Ouko was nominated for the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Judgeship. However, he ultimately failed to be elected to the court.

Despite Kenya’s past failures, there is a wave of optimism around the upcoming AU election for several reasons. Unlike in past attempts, Odinga enjoys much greater popularity and support across the continent compared to the likes of Mohamed and Ouko.