Kenya’s candidate in the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson elections, Raila Odinga, has conceded defeat in the just concluded voting.
Addressing the media in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, shortly after he lost to Djibouti’s candidate Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Odinga congratulated his opponent for clinching the seat and wished him well during his term.
He underscored the role of fairness in the conduct of the elections, intimating that the results should serve to strengthen democracy in Africa.
“I had offered myself as a candidate, over the last few months I have run around the continent talking to different leaders of the continent canvassing for their vote and today they have expressed themselves. As it stands now, we did not succeed,” he said.
“We say that we must strengthen democracy in the African continent and I’m therefore conceding defeat, and I want us to use this as an example of strengthening democracy in our continent.”
Odinga added: “I want to wish my competitor Ali Youssouf all the best and success in his undertaking and also want to thank all those who voted for me and those who didn’t because of exercising their democracy.”
In the Saturday elections, Mahamoud won the AUC Chair seat after garnering 33 votes, constituting the required two-thirds, in round 7, and is now set to replace the outgoing Moussa Faki of Chad who has held the position for 8 years.
Raila won the first two rounds of voting but then went on to lose the next three rounds to Youssouf.
In the first round, Raila garnered 20 votes against Mahamoud’s 18, while Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar bagged 10 votes. There was one abstained vote.
In the second round, Raila secured 22 votes, Mahamoud got 19, and Randriamandrato received 7 votes. One nation abstained from the second round as well.
The former Kenyan Prime Minister, however, came up short in the third round after receiving 20 votes, losing to Mahamoud who rose to first place with 23 votes, while Randriamandrato came third with 5 votes.
There was still one abstention, and Randriamandrato was eliminated from the election, leaving Raila head-to-head against Mahamoud.
Mahamoud maintained his lead in the fourth round, scoring 25 votes against Raila’s 21 votes. There was one spoilt vote while one nation abstained.
In the fifth round, Mahamoud garnered 26 votes Raila scored 21 votes, and one nation abstained from the vote.
Mahamoud maintained his lead into the sixth round, garnering a similar 26 votes, while Raila got 22 votes with one abstention.
Raila was then dropped from the vote, with Mahamoud remaining the only candidate in the seventh round, as he sought to secure two-thirds of the votes.
