Southern Cameroons Crisis: Pro Yaounde diplomat elected President of the African Union 0

Chadian Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2008, Moussa Faki Mahamat, 56, has been elected to the presidency of the African Union (AU) Commission today Monday January 30th in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 28th Summit of the pan-African organization.

Faki Mahamat has been painted as “a faithful among the faithful” of Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno with very closed ties with the Biya regime. The General Assembly also elected a new Chairman in the person of Guinean Alpha Condé. Faki Mahamat announced that he intends to make the fight against terrorism a priority.

His candidacy was however weakened by the lack of consensus on a single candidate in Central Africa, Sub region. In addition, part of the Chadian civil society militated against its candidacy by highlighting the lack of democracy and the lack of respect for human rights in his country. Moussa Fakhi Mahamat was however elected with 39 votes out of 54 against the Kenyan Amina Mohamed.

The Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium has not reacted to this latest development in the African Union.

By Chi Prudence Asong