The foreign minister of Chad, Moussa Faki Mahamat was on Monday elected by African Union leaders at a summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as the new chairman of the AU Commission. He beat Kenya’s Amina Mohamed to secure the top job.
He will be replacing the outgoing AU Commission chief, South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Congratulations to H.E Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat of #Chad on his election as the new Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Well done! pic.twitter.com/voG8PZDybQ
— Amb. Smail Chergui (@AU_Chergui) January 30, 2017
Faki, born in 1960 has been serving as foreign minister of his country since 2008. Ghana’s former deputy foreign affairs minister, Kwesi Quartey was also elected vice chair of the commission.
Congratulations to Amb. Kwesi Quartey on being elected as the Vice Chair of the AU Commission. I wish you the very best in your new job. ??
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) January 30, 2017
The elections were delayed until now after African Union leaders failed to agree on a candidate in July last year. That forced the outgoing commissioner, Dlamini-Zuma to stay on an extra six months.
The selection of a new AU Commission chief appears to have been a thorny event for the African Union leaders. President of Chad, Idriss Deby also handed over the AU Chairmanship to Guinea’s Alpha Conde.
H.E. President Idriss Deby of Chad hands over @_AfricanUnion Chairmanship to H.E. President Alpha Conde of Guinea #28thAUSummit pic.twitter.com/O7uwFomGHN
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) January 30, 2017
Top most on the agenda are also issues of Africa’s relationship with the International Criminal Court and Morocco’s request to be readmitted to the AU.
Morocco decided to leave the AU following a dispute over the body’s recognition of Western Sahara. The country had been controlled by Morocco since 1976.
Source: Africafeeds.com
