Countries of the Islamic Cooperation Approve Djibouti's AUC Chairmanship Candidate

• Foreign ministers representing member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have met in Cameroon
• They decided to support one of them, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, in the race for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission (AUC).
• Mahamoud is the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Djibouti; he will compete with two other candidates including Kenya's Raila Odinga
• Interestingly, countries like Uganda, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau and Algeria are OIC members, but their presidents promised to support the Kenyan candidate.

Yaoundé – The member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have approved the candidacy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Djibouti, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, in the chairmanship of the African Union Commission (AUC).

Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama, Djibouti's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, revealed through X update.

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The foreign ministers of those countries met in Yaoundé, Cameroon, between August 29 and 30 for their 50th council meeting.

More importantly, the meeting was not for heads of state, who vote in the African Union (AU) General Council, but for the foreign ministers of the member states.

“The member countries of the 50th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in the capital of the Republic of Cameroon, Yaoundé, from 29 to 30 August 2024, unanimously adopted a resolution to support the candidacy of Mahmoud Ali Youssef. Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of #Djibouti to hold the post of Chairman of the African Union Commission for the period 2025 – 2029.” he posted.

This is the first endorsement for a Djibouti candidate to be made public.

The OIC includes 57 member countries, 27 of which are from Africa.

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African countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Djibouti, Chad, Morocco, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Comoro, Libya, Mali, Egypt, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, NigeriaSenegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, and Uganda.

Which OIC countries support Raila Odinga?

Interestingly, some of the presidents of OIC member countries have endorsed the candidate Kenya.

Uganda, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, and Algeria are believed to be behind Raila Odinga of Kenya.

It is also not lost that some OIC countries, which are Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Mali, which are OIC member countries, have been suspended from AU membership and no longer participate in its activities.

Other candidates vying for the continental position are Madagascar's Foreign Minister Richard Randriamandrato and Mauritius' Anil Gayan.

Inside the AU secretariat

The AUC is made up of a chairman, deputy chairman and commissioners, as well as staff.

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The parliament, which includes the heads of state and government, elects their president and vice president.

The Executive Council elects commissioners appointed by Parliament.

The terms of the members of the Commission are for four years, they can be renewed once.

What is Raila's position in the AUC race?

Railawho served as the African Union's High Representative for Infrastructure Development for five years between 2018 and 2023, will need the support of either consensus or at least two-thirds of the votes by member states represented by their heads.

Other countries whose presidents support his ambition (Raila) are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Somalia, South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Burundi, Seychelles, Ghana, South Sudan, Guinea Bissau, Angola , and Congo.

If he wins, Raila will adhere to the code of ethics of the chairmanship, which states that the holder of the office should take a back seat in the politics of their country and, at the same time, remain neutral in African social and political positions.

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The position is currently held by the former prime minister of Chad Moussa Faki who was elected for the first time in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.

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