Somalia has on Saturday constituted an African Union Commission (AUC) Election Campaign Committee to lobby for its candidate.
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre made the announcement of the formation of the committee which comprises of senior government officials.
The committee include cabinet ministers; Daud Aweis of information, Bihi Egeh of Finance, Abdirisak Omar Mohamed Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
Others are Abdisalam Abdi Ali, Ali Omar, the acting Foreign Affairs Minister and Abdullahi Ahmed Jama.
The committee will lobby other African nations to support Somalia’s candidate.
Fawzia Yusuf Adam, the first Foreign Affairs female minister in Somalia and former deputy Prime Minister is set to compete against Kenya’s long time opposition Raila Odinga for the position of the AUC Chairperson.
The elections for the AUC Chairperson take place in February 2025.
Under the rotational rules drawn in 2018, the Eastern Africa region should be the next to produce the AUC Chairperson in February 2025.
The upcoming election, a candidate must secure two-thirds of the votes to clinch the position of Chairperson.
The AUC, serving as the Secretariat of the Union, is mandated with executing executive functions and comprises ten officials, including a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson, and eight Commissioners, alongside staff members.