'We lost, but not all is lost': AU election loss analysis

Kenya’s AU commission election loss, despite being disappointing, offers the country lessons.

This is according to panelists during Citizen Digital’s X Space on Tuesday night analysing Kenya’s defeat at the AU election.

According to Prof. Fatuma Ali, an international relations lecturer at USIU, the outcome offers Kenya lessons on how global, domestic and regional politics work. 

“We went against Djibouti for the Security Council seat, and we won. However, with the AUC election, we realized that it's not the same thing at the regional level. There are other dynamics beyond the kind of experience that we might have at the global level,” she said.

Ali continue, “Kenya really tried. The Kenyan government through the President put a lot of effort, but we need to understand that there are dynamics beyond our control.”

The election for AU Commission chair took place last Saturday, during the 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud Youssouf was elected chairperson of AUC after securing 33 votes in the seventh round of voting. 

Youssouf will replace the outgoing Moussa Faki of Chad, who has held the position for eight years.

Forty-nine heads of state took part in the vote, with the winner needing two-thirds of the total votes, totalling 33.

Raila faced Youssouf and Madagascar’s former Foreign Affairs Minister Richard Randriamandrato in the elections.

According to another panelist on the X Space, Zach Chiliswa, the director of international liaison, Meru University of Science and Technology, the election was a good opportunity for Kenya to raise its profile, not only within Africa but also internationally. 

“This election presented us with a strategic, position when it comes to the functioning of the African Union. It's an a good opportunity for Kenya to begin to interact with what is happening in other countries,” he said.

Chiliswa said that despite Djibouti being a small nation, it is strategic because of the number of military bases it has which serve various purposes on the continent of Africa.

On the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lessons after the loss after backing Raila, Zach Chira, an international specialist, said, “This is going to go down as the most interesting AUC election that has gone down yet and because we floated a candidate who is very popular throughout the continent. We lost but not all is lost”

He continued, “It is time to focus on the more important factors such as our geopolitics, internal politics and AU reforms. It is something that we will not let up on because the effectiveness of the AU has to keep up with the times. And it's not just the AU that we're spearheading the reforms on.”

Listen to the entire X Space here. Citizen Digital X Spaces happen every Tuesday at 7pm.