Seychelles Backs New Candidate for AUC Chair, Presenting Fresh Challenge to Raila Odinga
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga faced a new challenge on Wednesday when Seychelles introduced a new candidate for the Africa Union Commission Chairperson (AUC) role.
This development comes at a time when Djibouti and Somalia have also nominated their own candidates.
A statement from the Seychelles Foreign Affairs Department revealed that the East African nation would support Vincent Meriton.
Meriton previously served as Seychelles’ Vice President and Foreign Minister.
“The Foreign Affairs Department wishes to announce that the Government of Seychelles has endorsed the candidature of Vincent Meriton for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) in the election scheduled to take place in February 2025,” read part of a statement from the Seychelles government.
Seychelles emphasized that Meriton is the most qualified candidate due to his political career advocating for Seychelles’ stance on the Blue Economy internationally.
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If Meriton wins the position, it was stated that he would enhance the implementation rate of the Commission’s executive decisions.
This improvement would be achieved by addressing obstacles to implementation and fostering accountability and compliance.
Raila Odinga was the first to express interest in the position, which will become vacant in February 2025.
Following his announcement, Somalia nominated former Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzia Yusuf Adam to compete with Raila.
Subsequently, Djibouti put forward their Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Youssouf for the same position.
The seat is rotated, and it is the East African Region’s turn to nominate a candidate to replace Moussa Faki from Chad.
Seychelles Backs New Candidate for AUC Chair, Presenting Fresh Challenge to Raila Odinga