Draft Pushing For Women Candidates Could Lock Raila Out of Top AUC Job
Drafters at the African Union are attempting once again to potentially exclude Raila Odinga, the opposition leader in Kenya. Their proposal suggests limiting the eligibility for the next Commission chairperson’s position to female candidates.
Mr. Odinga has been endorsed by the Kenyan government as the candidate to succeed Chadian diplomat Moussa Faki Mahamat. However, a proposal shared with member states on Tuesday suggests that only female candidates should be considered for the upcoming election, despite the seat rotating to the Eastern Africa region.
The suggestion is outlined in the updated version of the report titled “Preparations for the Election of Senior Leadership of the African Union Commission in February 2025.”
The document is a collaborative effort between the Legal Counsel and the Deputy Commission Chairperson’s Office of the African Union, working in partnership with the Committee of Permanent Representatives. It needs approval from the African Union Executive Council before being adopted by the Assembly.
The assertion is that the roles of chairperson and deputy chairpersons should adhere to the principle of gender equality, ensuring that individuals holding these positions cannot belong to the same gender simultaneously, a policy implemented in 2021. Additionally, it suggests, for the first time, that a current officeholder of a specific gender should be succeeded by an individual of the opposite gender in subsequent elections.
“Consequently, by the aforementioned guiding principle, the CP for the upcoming 2025 election must be female. Therefore, only female candidates will be considered for the position of CP, while only male candidates are eligible for the position of DCP,” the report proposes.
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“To uphold the principle of rotational gender parity, it has been concluded that the next Chairperson of the Commission should be a female, while the next Deputy Chairperson should be male.”
The African Union has witnessed just one female chairperson throughout its history, namely South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who held the position from 2012 to 2017. Up until 2021, there were no specific limitations on the selection of a deputy chairperson, although it was customary for the deputy not to belong to the same region as the chairperson in the rotational practice.
Kenya’s Erastus Mwencha served as the deputy to Dr. Zuma, while Ghana’s Thomas Kwesi was the deputy to Faki during his initial term from 2017 to 2021. Currently, Dr. Faki is assisted by Monique Nsanzabaganwa from Rwanda.
The upcoming African Union Commission election scheduled for February requires the formulation of guidelines. This report aims to establish the procedural framework, drawing inspiration from the 2018 AU institutional reform structures outlined by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his team of experts.
The presentation of the report is scheduled for March 16, when it will be presented to the Executive Council. This council consists of Foreign Affairs Ministers representing AU member countries, and their decision will determine the suitability of the proposals to enhance the competitiveness, fairness, and representativeness of the AU.
Musalia Mudavadi, the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Minister for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Kenya will serve as the country’s representative at the meeting, where decisions are typically made through consensus.
Although there is widespread resistance to rotation in general, certain countries, notably in West Africa, have shown significant opposition, as reported by sources interviewed by Gossipa2z.com.
Following the distribution of the initial report to members during last month’s AU Summit, a West African nation expressed strong opposition. They proposed a modification, recommending that the rotation be limited to the roles of Chairperson and Deputy, allowing the other six commissioners to engage in a competitive selection process.
The nation has a current Commissioner who is qualified for reelection but might not be in contention if the rotation policy applies to all roles.
The latest suggestion in the proposal recommends implementing a ‘limited restriction’ where the Central Planning (CP) and Development Control Planning (DCP) alternate across various regions, namely Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western. During this process, the six commissioners are allowed to actively participate in a fair competition. Additionally, the report suggests that commissioners meeting the eligibility criteria for competition should rejoin the race for their respective positions. This is contingent upon receiving a nomination from a specialized panel responsible for evaluating candidates within their specific region.
“As a result, eligibility for re-election is attributed to the incumbent following nomination by their region. As such, the incumbent will compete with candidates from the next eligible region, based on inter-regional rotation following the English alphabetical order,” it says.
“If a member of the Commission served twice in any role within the Commission, they are not eligible to compete for any senior leadership role within the Commission,” reads the report.
In line with the 2018 rotation ruling, the upcoming Commission Chairperson is expected to hail from the eastern African region, following the sequence of regions as per their alphabetical arrangement in English.
Since the establishment of the African Union in 2002, Kenya and Rwanda have consistently occupied Deputy Chairperson positions. Additionally, during the era of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Tanzania held the position of Secretary-General, which preceded the AU.
A previous version of the report stated that nations with prior experience in Chairperson (CP) or Deputy Chairperson (DCP) roles cannot seek these positions until other countries in their region have had an opportunity. The proposed regulations now confine eligibility restrictions to the duration of AU appointments, potentially allowing Tanzania and other Eastern region countries to nominate candidates. The report also recommended a rotational system for all six commissioners, except for regions securing the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson roles.
Certainly, this has become a customary practice at the AU in recent years. The updated version of the proposal adds that commissioners eligible for re-election can seek another term, provided they compete with other eligible regions and receive nominations from their respective regions.
This proposition will achieve the status of an official AU policy when the Council approves its substance and the Assembly gives its endorsement. Kenyan diplomats might have a hectic week ahead.
Draft Pushing For Women Candidates Could Lock Raila Out of Top AUC Job