Tanzania’s Samia attends 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa

Tanzania’s Samia attends 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa

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Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan is leading a Tanzanian delegation to the 38th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Summit will culminate in the election of the African Union Commission (AUC)’s new chairperson.

Kenyan former Prime Minister Raila Odinga is one of the candidates for the position.

Heads of State and Governments will elect the new chairperson and deputy chairperson in the afternoon of February 15, 2024 in a closed-door, secret ballot session.

Candidates must secure a 2/3 majority from 49 eligible member States (six countries under sanctions will not vote).

The six are Gabon, Niger, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Mali.

For the AUC chairperson post, Mr Odinga, 80, is facing off with Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (60) and former Madagascar Foreign Minister Richard James Randriamandrato (66).

Those gunning for Deputy AUC chairperson post are Salah Francis (65) and Selma Malika (48) both from Algeria.

Others are Mohamed Fathi Ahmed (65) and Hanan Morsy (50) from Egypt, Najat Elhjjaji (73) from Libya, and Latifa Akharbach (65) from Morocco.

Dr Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, is hosting the Summit.

Outgoing AUC Chairperson Moussa Faki, in his statement, lauded President Ruto (the new champion of AU reforms) and his predecessor, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, for championing reforms of the continental body.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres who is attending the summit has called for peaceful processes to end regional conflicts.

"The crisis in the DRC must end and we must embrace peaceful processes to end conflicts through meaningful dialogue," he said of the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).