The election process of the African Union Commission Senior Leadership has kicked off with the call for interested candidates to submit, to their member states, their curriculum vitae, along with vision statements outlining how they intend to advance the transformative agenda of the African Union, and to address the existing and emerging challenges facing the continent. The elections will take place in February 2025 during the African Union Summit. All the eight (8) Senior leadership positions of the AU Commission are open for candidates' submissions guided by the regional allocation of the portfolios. The positions include that of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, and 6 Commissioner posts.
The February 2025 election process will be based on the principle of inter-regional rotation that dictates that:
- The Eastern region will submit both male and female candidates for the role of Chairperson.
- The Northern region will submit both male and female candidates for the role of Deputy Chairperson,
- Theremainingthreeregions(Central,Southern,andWesternregions)willsubmit at least two candidates (one female and one male) for the six portfolios of Commissioners.
Each region determines its own procedure for nominating candidates for the portfolios for which it is eligible. The deadline for the submission of the regional nominations to the African Union Commission is 6th August 2024. Only names of candidates submitted by the region will be considered in the pre-selection process undertaken by the Panel of Eminent Africans. Further, only Member States that are not under AU sanctions are allowed to submit candidates.
A Panel of Eminent Africans, composed of five (5) personalities, one per region, were appointed in February 2024 to oversee the pre-selection of candidatures for the eight positions. The Panel of Eminent Africans have since developed the job profiles and competency requirements for the leadership posts. This includes generic leadership skills and competencies as well as expert and thematic skills for each portfolio. The assessment process for all candidates is based on the skills and competencies identified for each senior leadership position.
Members of the Panel of Eminent Africans are:
- Prof. Paul Ngarambe, Burundi, representing the Central Region.
- H.E Amb. Konjit SineGiorgis, Ethiopia, representing the Eastern Region.
- H.E Amb. Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, South Africa, representing the Southern Region.
- H.E Amb. Patrick Hayford, Ghana, representing the Western Region.
The nominee from the Northern Region will be included in the Panel upon the conclusion of regional consultations and the submission of the nominee.
The African Union Commission elections are conducted as follows; the Assembly of Heads of State and Government elects the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson. The Ministerial Executive Council elects the Commissioners, who are appointed by the Assembly. Gender rotation is considered in the elections such that if the Chairperson is male, a female is elected as the Deputy Chairperson and vis versa. The Commission elected senior leadership members serve for a term of four years, renewable once.
Ahead of the elections conducted in a secret ballot, candidates vying for the position of the Chairperson of the Commission participate in a televised debate broadcasted LIVE to African citizens. The Africa Leadership Debate dubbed MjadalaAfrika is a platform that provides candidates an opportunity to outline their vision of how they will lead the transformation of Africa through the implementation of the AU Mandate and Africa's Agenda 2063. The debate allows African citizens and other stakeholders to put forward questions to the candidates on issues they want addressed on how to propel the continent's growth and ensure Africa achieves its goals for integrated and sustainable development and becoming a major player in the Global Arena.
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The African Union election process is guided by principles that ensure there is equitable regional representation, gender parity, attracting and retaining Africa's top talent, accountable and effective leadership and management, and transparent and merit-based selection.
Learn more about the AU Commission elections here.
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Doreen Apollos | Directorate of Information and Communication| African Union Commission | E-mail
Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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