Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat named AU chairperson
The foreign minister of Chad takes over from Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, having beat rival Amina Mohamed from Kenya in the final round
Addis Ababa — Chad’s foreign minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has been named the new AU Commission chairperson, beating four others to succeed SA’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Several delegates leaving the election hall confirmed the win, while grinning Chadian delegates hugged one another in celebration. Former Burundian president Pierre Buyoya confirmed Faki’s victory, saying it came after a final round battle with Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed, on Monday. The 56-year-old former prime minister has been at the forefront of the fight against Islamists in Nigeria, Mali and the Sahel, and has promised "development and security" will be top of his agenda as chief of the continental bloc. He said he dreamt of an Africa where the "sound of guns will be drowned out by cultural songs and rumbling factories", and pledged to streamline the bureaucratic AU during his four-year term in office. Member states elected him after seven rounds of voting, according to a statement from Kenya congrat...
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