By Godfrey Olukya – 30 November 2016
Aspiring to become the next chairperson of African Union Commission, 69 year old Professor Abdoulaye Bathily from Senegal has started meeting various heads of African states seeking for their support.
The African presidents are set to elect the next head of commission in January next year to replace the incumbent Nkozasana Dlamini-Zuma whose term has expired. The other contenders include Botswana’s Penelope Venson, Chad’s Moussa Faki Mhamat, Equatorial Guinea’s Agapito Mba Mokuy and Kenya’s Amina Mohamed.
Professor Abdoulaye Bathily
Bathily said during a press interview that he is confident that he will win and he has already visited some countries seeking support during the forthcoming elections .He said he has already been in Morocco and Madagascar.
Among the heads of state he has met recently are Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi,and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.Just last Monday he met South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma in South Africa.
He said ”I met with president Zuma and some of the ANC members so that I could introduce myself to them. I stand for the unity of Africa and so I know quite a number of Africa’s struggle movements.”
Bathily says that his main objective is to make Africa united and increase its capacity to solve its own problems.
