Africa

AUC top job: Somalia forms campaign committee to support its candidate

Somalia's former Foreign Affairs minister Fawzia Yusuf Haji at a press briefing on February 29, 2024. (Photo: X)

By Mwangi Maina | Saturday, March 23, 2024

Fawzia, the former foreign minister, will directly challenge Kenya's long-serving opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who is also vying for the continental top role.

Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has appointed special lobbying envoys and an election campaign committee to support Somalia’s candidate, Fawzia Yusuf Haji, who is running for the African Union Commission chairperson leadership in February 2025.

The team includes Finance Minister Bihi Egeh, Information Minister Daud Aweis, Abdirizak Mohamed of Petroleum, Public Works Minister Abdisalam Abdi Ali (Dhay), acting Foreign Minister Ali Omar, and Minister Abdullahi Ahmed Jama.

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Fawzia, the former foreign minister, will directly challenge Kenya's long-serving opposition leader, Raila Odinga, who is also vying for the continental top role.

Nairobi and Mogadishu’s simultaneous bids for the coveted AU position indicate the deep-seated divisions that threaten to dilute Eastern Africa’s collective influence on the continental stage as campaigns boom.

The creation of the campaign team by Mogadishu means Somalia is continuing with its bid and won't withdraw its candidature for anybody.

Notably, Raila Odinga has, over the years, maintained strong ties to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, and has previously advocated for Somaliland's statehood.

His influence in Hargeisa has encouraged Mogadishu to continue its bid.

In a 2020 meeting in Nairobi, Raila discussed Somaliland's independence with President Muse Bihi, emphasising the need for the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to recognise Somaliland as an independent nation.

Raila, who was then serving as the AU’s High Representative for Infrastructure, largely in a ceremonial role, said it was impossible to reunite Somalia and Somaliland.

“The AU needs to wake up to the reality that it is not going to be possible again to bring these two countries together and recognise them as two separate countries,” he said at the Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi during a reception dinner for the Somaliland leader.

Prime Minister @HamzaAbdiBarre has appointed special lobbying envoys and an election campaign committee to support #Somalia's candidate Fowziya Yusuf Haji, who is running for the #AUC senior leadership in February 2025. pic.twitter.com/44zEKy3PuA
— SNTV News (@sntvnews1) March 23, 2024