KENYA'S Former Prime Minister Hon. Raila Odinga has lost the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson bid after he was triumphed over by Djibouti's Candidate Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.
Raila, took an early lead after the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government voted in his favour during round one in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday February 15, but he did not secure enough votes to be declared the Winner.
HOW VOTING WORKS.
To be elected as the AUC Chairperson, a candidate must secure at least two-thirds of the votes from the 49 members of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) expected to attend the session who will elect and appoint them.
This Means that for one to be declared the Winner in the Secret Ballot Voting process, the candidate must Secure at least 33 Votes out of the 49.
Voting is conducted in three rounds until one of the candidates obtains at least two-thirds majority.
After Heads of state or their representatives vote thrice and the third ballot remains inconclusive without any candidate garnering the two-thirds majority, the next ballot is restricted to the two candidates who obtained the highest number of votes and the candidate with fewer votes is withdrawn.
Where there are only two candidates initially and neither candidate obtains the majority required after the third ballot, the candidate with fewer votes is withdrawn and the remaining candidate proceeds to the next round.
If the remaining candidate fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required in that round, the Chairperson is required to suspend the election.
Also, where there is only one candidate initially and he or she fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required after the third ballot, the current Chairperson is required to suspend the election, and the deputy chairperson will assume the chairmanship on an interim basis until new elections are held.
In the event candidates drop from the race before the election and only one is left, he or she will still require two-thirds majority votes.
HOW TODAY'S VOTES TURNED OUT.
Mahmoud Youssouf of Djibouti, a seasoned diplomat and long-serving foreign minister, clinched victory following an intense voting process that saw Kenya’s candidate, Raila Odinga and Madagascar's Candidate eliminated from the race.
Raila Odinga took an early Lead dominating round 1 and 2 with twenty votes and Twenty two votes respectively, however, they were not enough to declare him the winner.
In round Three, Djibouti's candidate edged over Raila with twenty three votes to Raila's Twenty votes while Madagascar's candidate secured five votes, which saw him Disqualified from the Fourth Round.
The Next Rounds, was a tight race between Raila Odinga and Mahmoud Youssouf, with the Djibouti Candidate Declared the Eventual Winner after Securing the 33 Votes needed to win.
