Raila drops out of AUC chairmanship race after round 6
Kenya’s candidate for the African Union Chairmanship (AUC), Raila Odinga, has dropped from the race in the sixth round of the voting exercise in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
The AUC vote went to six rounds of voting after none of the candidates managed to garner at least 33 votes, which is two-thirds of the heads of state who voted.
In the first round, Kenya’s candidate, Raila, took the lead after he garnered 20 votes, followed closely by his Djibouti rival, who garnered 18 votes, and Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar got 10 votes.
In the second round, Raila got 22 votes, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf got 19, and Randriamandrato garnered seven votes. One abstained.
In the third round, Djibouti’s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf took the lead with 23 votes, followed closely by Raila, who got 20 votes, with Madagascar’s Randriamandrato garnering five. One abstained in this round.
The race narrowed to two candidates after the Madagascar candidate was dropped after the third round.
In the fourth round, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf still took the lead with 25 votes, with Raila getting 21. Two votes were spoiled, with two abstentions.
In the fifth round, the Djibouti candidate garnered 26 votes, with Raila managing 21 votes with two abstentions.
Raila drops
Raila dropped out of the race after round six that saw Mahmoud garner 26 votes, with the former PM managing 22 votes.
Mahmoud is now proceeding to the next round, seeking a two-thirds majority of at least 33 votes.
Kenya unveils Raila
On February 26, 2024, President William Ruto and Raila pulled an unexpected move that revealed Kenya’s interest in taking a stab at the continental top seat—the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.
Ruto and Raila, who were then largely viewed as political rivals, flew to Uganda and met President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Their discussions confirmed reports that the former prime minister had declared interest in the African Union Commission Chairmanship, sparking a myriad of reactions from the Kenyan political space.
After the Ugandan meeting, Raila embarked on intense deliberations and discussions before fully launching his campaign to replace Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Fully bankrolled by the Kenya Kwanza’s administration, he flew to different parts of the continent, capitalizing on his rich network to convince the heads of state to vote for him.
With the help of his secretariat, Raila pitched his vision to the presidents, some of whom openly endorsed him, but others confirmed their meeting without revealing where their vote would go.
