In the loudest statement yet against bad leadership in Africa, 28,581,970 people have responded to and signed an online petition by Coalition Of Supporters’ Union (COSUA) to the African Union to extend the deadline to allow for the nomination of other candidates to contest Moussa Faki Mahamat as Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
For the first time in its history, the leader of the executive arm of the African Commission is on the verge of being elected unopposed as incumbent Faki in connivance with AU Chair Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has muscled out competition.
President of COSUA Advocate Sarfo Abebreseh in an interview with DNT said “Faki is the very last person to be elected unopposed anywhere in Africa because of his abysmal leadership.”
Another AU observer agreed. “I can understand if he has shown any results in four years. He has done nothing to warrant re-election let alone unopposed,” said Yohannes Mezgebe.
Young pan-Africanist Mary Eudes Batiki Acquah who is also familiar with the workings of the African Union characterized the AU as a “failing organization.” Indeed, the African Union Commission Staff Association itself, where Faki is reported to enjoy less than 10% popularity, wrote in March to him that “the moral fabric of the organization has decayed under your leadership.”
But one thing Faki is good at is jumping at the command of France, Saudi Arabia, and other foreign interests.
Last November, when Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao as AU Ambassador to the United States decided to use her platform to call out France’s atrocities in Africa, it took less than two months for Faki to heed France’s instructions to fire her.
With this atrocious record as the leader of the African Union Commission, it was widely expected that the 2017 contest that took three rounds for Faki to emerge would be even more contentious in February 2021 when he is up for re-election.
Instead Northern and Eastern Regions did not submit a candidate to contest the incumbent. Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo nominated former ECOWAS chairman Ibn Chambas as the candidate for the Western Africa Region only for the latter to withdraw his nomination 48 hours later after consulting with Faki – go figure.
With the deadline having elapsed after that debacle, all hopes of competition for Faki rested with the Southern Africa Region.
After global appeals for Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao to run for the AUC Chair, she finally submitted her letter of interest to her president, Emerson Mnanagagwa of Zimbabwe who promptly agreed to nominate her.
But to do so, Mnanagagwa needs the support of his colleagues from that region especially Ciryl Ramaphosa of South Africa who not only presides over the largest economy in that region, but also chairs the Africa Union.
Ramaphosa flatly declines to support Chihombori-Quao’s nomination and essentially sinks it.
And now Africa is on track to be led by a unanimously inept and corrupt Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad as the Chairman of the African Union Commission. Fasten your seatbelts folks; this promises to be an interesting ride.
DNT News, Accra
