Election of the AUC Chairperson, Deputy and Commissioners at the July 2016 Summit

1. Positions to be elected at the July 2016 Summit

Candidatures are supposed to circulated to member states at least 3 months before the election. The following candidatures have been received. Details of incumbents can be found at this link: http://au.int/en/AUC/leadership

Country	Gender	Region
CHAIRPERSON
Uganda	Female	Eastern
Botswana	Female	Southern
Equatorial Guinea	Male	Central
Incumbent: South Africa	Female	Southern
DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON
Djibouti	Male	Eastern
Somalia	Male	Eastern
Cameroon	Male	Central
Ghana	Male	West
Incumbent: Kenya	Male	Eastern
COMMISSIONERS
Peace and Security
Algeria (incumbent/seeking reelection for 2nd term)	Male	Northern
Nigeria	Female	Western
Burundi	Female	Central
Cameroon	Male	Central
Political Affairs
Sudan	Male	Eastern
Cameroon	Male	Central
Egypt	Female	Northern
Guinea	Male	Western
Incumbent:  Nigeria	Female	Western
Infrastructure and Energy
Kenya	Male	Eastern
Guinea	Male	Western
Egypt	Female	Northern
Tunisia	Female	Northern
Cameroon	Male	Central
Benin	Male	Western
Cote d’Ivoire	Male	Western
Incumbent: Egypt	Male	Northern
Social Affairs
Sierra Leone (incumbent/seeking reelection for 2nd term)	Male	Western
Sudan	Female	Eastern
Burundi	Female	Central
Uganda	Male	Eastern
Cameroon	Female	Central
Human Resources, Science and Technology
Mauritania	Female	Northern
Burundi	Male	Central
Cameroon	Male	Central
Incumbent: Congo	Male	Central
Trade and Industry
Chad (incumbent/seeking reelection for 2nd term)	Female	Central
Senegal	Female	Western
Egypt	Female	Northern
Rural Economy and Agriculture
Seychelles	Male	Eastern
Burkina Faso	Male	Western
Incumbent: Uganda	Female	East
Economic Affairs
Lesotho (incumbent/seeking reelection for 2nd term)	Male	Southern
Cameroon	Male	Central

2. Criteria for selection

According to the AU rules, there shall be equal regional and gender representation in the AU Commission. The regional representation of Members in the Commission is 2 from each region and the regions are divided as shown below. The region from which the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson are appointed shall be entitled to one Commissioner each. All the other regions shall be entitled to two Commissioners provided that the Chairperson of the Commission and his/her Deputy shall not be from the same region. In addition to the regional divisions the rules provide that at least one member of the Commission from each region shall be a woman.

Southern Africa 10	Central Africa 9	Eastern Africa 14	West Africa 15	Northern Africa 6
Angola Botswana Lesotho Malawi Mozambique Namibia South Africa Swaziland Zambia Zimbabwe	Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Congo Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Equatorial Guinea Gabon Sao Tome & Principe	Comoros Djibouti Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Madagascar Mauritius Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Uganda	Benin Burkina Faso Cape Verde Cote d’Ivoire Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Togo	Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) Tunisia

3. Process

According to AU procedures, there shall be a pre-selection process at the regional level for Commissioners. Each region shall nominate two (2) candidates, including a woman, for each portfolio. The Executive Council shall elect by ballot, eight Commissioners on the regional and gender principles of and shall submit the names to the Assembly for appointment. The successful candidates will need to be elected by a 2/3rds majority. The Rules are silent on the role of the regions in the election of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson. The election is done by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government by secret ballot. The voting process commences with the election of the Chairperson of the Commission, followed by the Deputy Chairperson and then the Assembly endorses the nomination of the Commissioners elected by the Executive Council.

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