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Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for being elected to the helm of the continental bloc’s secretariat.He also congratulated former Comesa secretary general Dr Erastus Mwencha for assuming the post of deputy chairperson.
The President, who was speaking in his address to the plenary, also paid tribute to outgoing AU Commission chairperson Dr Jean Ping for superintending over the Commission for the past four years.
The President said Dr Ping had done a marvellous job.
“May I begin by congratulating Madam Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on her assumption of the post of chairperson of our Commission and also congratulate Dr Erastus Mwencha on being elected deputy chairperson,” he said.
Dr Dlamini-Zuma, who is South Africa’s home affairs minister, beat Dr Ping of Gabon after a protracted contest that began at the 18th Ordinary Session in January this year.
Dr Dlamini-Zuma got the backing of 37 countries.
So tight was the contest that the ad-hoc Committee of Eight Heads of State and Government that was tasked to break the impasse in January had recommended that new candidates be fielded when they failed to broker a deal on who between Dr Dlamini-Zuma and Dr Ping should be at the helm of the AU secretariat after six months of trying.
To land the Commission chair, a candidate required two thirds of the votes from eligible member states.
Dr Dlamini-Zuma garnered 27 votes to Ping’s 24 in the first round; 29 votes to 22 in the second round and 33 votes to 18 in the third round of voting at which point Dr Ping was forced to drop out leaving Dr Dlamini-Zuma to vie for the two-thirds majority as a sole candidate in the fourth round.
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She duly managed the feat after amassing 37 country votes, three above the threshold for outright victory.
Only 51 of the AU’s 54 member states were allowed to vote this year as three members are under suspension after undergoing unconstitutional changes of governments.
The three ineligible countries are Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Madagascar.
There were recent coups in Mali and Guinea-Bissau, while Madagascar’s current Government came into power through street demonstrations.
Addressing journalists after the contest, AU chairman Dr Thomas Boni Yayi of Benin said Dr Dlamini-Zuma’s victory was a victory for all Africa.
He said there was no loser as the Commissioner had come out the winner after a tightly fought democratic contest. Convening under the theme “Consolidation of intra-African trade”, the summit, apart from electing the chairperson and the deputy chairperson of the Commission, was also set to appoint the eight
Commissioners of the AU and the three Judges of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The new leaders of Egypt, Lesotho and Senegal President Mohammed Mursi, Prime Minister Tom Thabane and President Macky Sall were all officially welcomed and took the floor to deliver their maiden speeches in which they paid tribute to the founding fathers and pledged to honour their memory in leadership.
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