Dr. Donald Kaberuka, hot favorite for AUC post after election deadlock in July 2016
Dr. Donald Kaberuka, former African Development Bank President is leading a 15 bigshot politician list as a hot favorite for the African Union Commission chief’s post according to readers’ opinion poll by Africapedia news site.
The survey indicated that the Rwandan national who turned AFDB for better in two consecutive terms topped the list garnering 68 per cent. His compatriot and Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, comes second with 13 per cent.
On the list of polled African prominent politicians featured also Thabo Mbeki, former South African President, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala , former Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Makhtar Diop , Senegale’s World Bank’s vice president, Pravin Gordhan, South African politician and current Minister of Finance, Amina J. Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment; Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, among others.
According to Africapedia-owned by veteran Ugandan journalist Charles Onyango Obbo, Winnie Byanyima dropped to the third place from the second with 6 percent.
Meanwhile Dr. Kaberuka hasn’t yet shown his stand but he’s likely to fall under the continent-wide push to run for this post as voices calling for his contest have been heard since election deadlock in July 2016.
At the 27th Assembly of the African Union heads of state recently held in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, African countries failed to choose among three candidates Foreign Minister of Botswana, Dr. Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi and Foreign Minister of Equatorial Guinea, former Vice President of Uganda Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe and Agapito Mba Mokuy.
In a closed-door exercise, seven rounds of voting marred by high abstentions were conducted and none of three contenders garnered required votes for the post.
The most contested election was postponed to 30-31 January 2017 during the 28th AU summit of heads of state set to take place at AU headquarters in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
Member states were notified of nomination process as from early August and the submission of candidatures for chairperson and deputy chairperson posts is due to be done before 30th September 2016.
Dr. Kaberuka is an economist who in immediate post-Genocide joined hands with others to turn around Rwanda’s flattered economy. After a successful political career, he was voted for the President of the AfDB where he served it from 2005-2015.
Immediately after completion of two terms in the AfDB, he joined Harvard Kennedy School’s Centre for Public Leadership as Hauser Leader-in-Residence. He’s also currently the AU High Representative for the peace fund, tasked with mobilising additional resources for the continental body’s peace and security related activities.