The three official candidates who are vying for the position of Chairperson of the African Union (AU) will participate in the African Union Leadership Debate today, December 13, 2024, ahead of the Election of Senior Leadership of the African Union Commission (AUC) in February 2025.
In the upcoming AU 2025 election cycle, elections will be held for the positions of Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, and six Commissioners. However, only the three candidates—Raila Odinga from Kenya, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf from Djibouti, and Richard Randriamandrato from Madagascar—who are competing for the top AUC seat, will take part in the debate, called the Mjadala Afrika Leadership Debate, at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM East African Time.
“The debate will be televised across the AU Member States in all six official working languages of the African Union: English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili,” AU announced.
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During the debate, the three candidates will be responding to questions posed by two moderators (one English-speaking and one French-speaking). They will also answer a few questions from online participants of the debate. This interactive format is designed to encourage transparency and foster direct engagement between candidates and the African people.
“To ensure that all African citizens can watch the proceedings, the Information and Communication Directorate (ICD) of the AU, as part of the organising committee for the Mjadala Afrika debate, has made arrangements for all public broadcasters in the 55 AU member states to carry the live broadcast throughout the scheduled time,” the AU says.
The first-ever Mjadala Afrika was held in 2017 as a platform for candidates seeking the position of Chairperson of the AUC to address African citizens in an environment that encouraged dialogue and understanding of the role and its responsibilities. Since then, the debate has been giving the candidates an opportunity to outline their vision of how they would lead the transformation of Africa through the implementation of the AU Mandate and Africa’s Agenda 2063, focusing on the decolonisation of the continent.
Mjadala Afrika, which translates to “African Debate” in Swahili, aims to engage the candidates vying for the top position in a meaningful dialogue about the future direction and work of the African Union.
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