The African Union Commission Chairmanship, perhaps the most important position in the African Union, is yet to be filled. On Monday, elections were held at the AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda by members of the AU to elect a new AU Commission Chairperson and replace Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the sitting chairperson. However, none of the three candidates in the running were able to amass a two-third majority of the votes, a requirement to fill this position. Re-run elections have been set for January 2017.

African Union and the African Union Commission

The African Union Commission is the executive/administrative arm of the body and is responsible for implementing policies and resolutions made by the Union’s member countries after every summit. The AU Commission Chairperson is the “chief executive officer, the AU’s legal representative, and the accounting officer of the commission.” The chairperson of the commission serves a four-year term. This post should be distinguished from the AU Chairperson who is the ceremonial head of the body and is elected for a one-year term by the heads of the member countries. The current AU Chairperson is Idriss Deby, President of Chad.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is stepping down as Chairperson of the commission after deciding not to contest for a second term in office. She was elected in 2012, much to the anger of many “small” nations in Africa. As a South African, she was not eligible to contest for the role as there is an unspoken rule where no giant African country (countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Algeria etc.) should have a candidate. Some have seen her decision to not contest for a second term in office as an opportunity to right a wrong.

Inadequate qualifications

However, it appears the African Union enjoys murmuring, like the biblical Israelis on their way out from Egypt. There have been rumblings in some quarters that none of the three candidates up for the position are qualified. At a time when the AU’s pan-African roles have been questioned, its efforts in fighting regional unrest all over the continent are failing and donations to the AU are reducing, many feel a candidate with adequate experience, at least in international circles, is needed. The hesitation to vote in any of the candidates on Monday might have stemmed from this.

‘Ambassadors’ of dictators as AU chairperson

Also, at least two of the candidates will be representing dictatorships and wins for them would mean they would be ambassadors of their dictator leaders. Chika Onyeani, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the African Sun Times newspaper told Voice of America that Zuma’s successor should be one with impeccable character, who has obeyed the constitution in his/her own country and is not representative of a dictator-led country. “We need the chairmanship of the African Union to be credible. If you nominate a candidate who represents one of those dictatorial leaders, what is going to happen is that you are enabling dictatorship in Africa, and that is not good for the continent,” he said.

Agapito Mba Mokuy (Equatorial Guinea) and Dr. Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe (Uganda) are two of the candidates from countries with sit-tight presidents. The president of the latter, especially, has gone a bit over board in the past few months. Before, during and after Uganda’s presidential elections earlier this year, Yoweri Museveni jailed his former Doctor and opposition candidate, Kizza Besigye, not less than five times in a bid to prevent Besigye from unseating him as president. Therefore, it came as no surprise when the third AU chairperson candidate, Dr. Pelonomi Venson- Moitoi from Botswana, had 23 votes at the AU summit over the weekend. It was the highest but it wasstill  short of the 36 votes needed for her to be named the AU chairperson.

Analysts claim former Botswana President Festus Mogae, a recipient of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s $5 million Leadership Awards in 2008, an award for democratic excellence, would play a key role in Dr. Venson-Moitoi’s emergence as AU chairperson in January 2017.

It is not yet cut and dry though. For an organisation that has made two authoritarian presidents in Mugabe and Deby, its past chairpeople, predicting that it will elect an AU Commission Chairperson from inclusive political institutions will be naïve at best. Also, there are increasingly obvious signs that new candidates will be introduced into the election by other AU member countries. However, what is absolutely clear is that Africa needs to be stronger in the coming years and this position is very important to that, so it must be gotten right.