Raila Odinga
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has lost the African Union Commission (AUC) seat to Djibouti’s candidate Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.
Odinga was eliminated from his bid to replace Moussa Faki in the sixth round after Mahamoud led with 26 votes while Raila garnered 22 votes, with one abstention.
In the first round, Raila had won 20 votes to Mahamoud’s 18, while Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar won 10. In the second round, Raila received 22 votes, Mahamoud 19, and Randriamandrato 7.
Moving to the third round, the former Prime Minister received 20 votes, Mahamoud rose to first place with 23 votes, while Randriamandrato came third with 5 votes.
Randriamandrato was then eliminated leaving Raila to battle Mahamoud.
Mahamoud maintained his lead in the fourth round with 25 votes to Raila’s 21 and in the fifth round, Mahamoud received 26 votes to Raila’s 21.
The Djibouti candidate still led in the sixth round while Raila was eliminated from the race. Mahamoud moved to the seventh round alone and garnered 33 votes constituting the required two-thirds.
He will replace Moussa Faki and will serve for a term of four years, with the possibility of re-election for one additional term for a maximum of two terms or eight years in total.
This is the second time Kenya has lost its bid to lead the continent. In 2017, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed received 16 votes in the first round, compared to Moussa Faki’s 14. Faki was elected in the seventh round with 38 votes, surpassing the required threshold.
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