During an unprecedented visit to Dar es Salaam, President Deby is said to have asked his counterpart and host John Pombe Magufuli to back Chad's Foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat for Africa’s top political job.
Source told that Presidents Deby and Magufuli discussed a range of issues including the AU Commission vacancy which is to be filled in two months by a vote of each of the 54 African Union member states.
Mindi Kasiga, Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional and International Cooperation spokesperson confirmed to The EastAfrican that the two presidents held confidential talks but could not reveal what they discussed.
President Deby, who is the current chairman of the AU, paid an official visit at the time when Tanzania is also hosting Zambian President Edgar Lungu – a visit that was announced just a day prior.
AU vote
Four candidates are vying to succeed South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who is stepping down, in an election to be held during the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government scheduled for January 30-31, 2017 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The election of the members of the AUC in Kigali, Rwanda, in July 2016 was suspended as none of the three contenders for the position of the chairperson of the Commission obtained the required two-thirds majority, after seven rounds of voting.