Process of Electing AUC Chair and the Deputy

For a candidate of African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship to be declared the winner, the candidate must garner the support of at least 33 of the 48 nations eligible to participate in the election process. The election can take up to three rounds if the threshold is not met in the first round of voting, usually by secret ballot where all the candidates are on the ballot.

If by the third round of voting, no candidate secures the required 33 votes, the next ballot is restricted to the top two candidates which means the candidate with fewer votes would be compelled to withdraw. Between the two remaining candidates, one has to secure the required majority lest the election be suspended and the deputy chairperson assumes interim leadership.

It means the balloting for the AUC chair continues until one candidate obtains the two-thirds majority, failure to which the candidate with fewer votes shall withdraw leaving the remaining two to run for the last balloting.

But in a context where there is only one candidate and the individual fails to get the two-thirds at the end of round three, the chairperson shall suspend voting, giving a direct tick for the deputy chairperson to assume the position of chairmanship of the commission until new elections are held.

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If the stalemate is in respect of the deputy chairperson, the most senior commissioner shall be designated to act until new elections are held.

In 2017, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed garnered 16 votes in the first round against Moussa Faki’s 14. The remaining votes were split among the other candidates. Faki was elected in the seventh round with 38 votes, surpassing the required threshold.

This year, seven countries will not take part in the vote after their suspension for lack of constitutional order. The said countries include Mali, Chad, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sudan and Niger. These countries are considered politically unstable due to internal conflicts among other reasons.

This year’s 2025 AUC election is scheduled to take place during the 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with three candidates on the ballot for the chairmanship position including Raila Odinga (Kenya), Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (Djibouti), and Richard Randriamandrato (Madagascar).

On the other hand, candidates for deputy AUC chairperson include Salah Francis (Algeria), Selma Malika (Algeria), Mohamed Fathi (Egypt), Hana Morsy (Egypt), Najat Elhajjaji (Libya) and Latifa Akharbach (Morocco).

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The voting shall commence with the election of the chairperson of the commission followed by the deputy chairperson. Thereafter, the assembly shall appoint the commissioners who were elected by the AU Executive Council to handle the chairman’s election.

The election follows a principle of inter-regional rotation, ensuring equitable representation across Africa’s five regions of Eastern, Northern, Central, Southern, and Western Africa.

This time round, the Eastern region of Africa was takes to nominate candidates for the chairperson and the Northern for deputy chairperson with each region submitting two candidates; male and female (for deputies) to promote gender equality.

The chairperson and deputy chairperson cannot be from the same region, ensuring diverse representation. They serve a four-year term, renewable once.