ADDIS-ABEBA (Ethiopia)- Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal took part Tuesday, in Addis Ababa, in a ceremony for the handover of positions between the ongoing and incoming members of the African Union (AU) Commission, in his capacity as the personnel representative of President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is also deputy chairman of the AU.
The ceremony was attended by a number of heads of state and government, especially of the countries elected on Jan 2017 as members of AU Conference’s office, including President Alpha Conde of Guinea, President Mussevini of Uganda and the prime minister of Swaziland.
President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and many Foreign ministers also attended the ceremony.
During the African Union Summit of January 2017, the heads of state and government elected the former Foreign minister of Chad, Moussa Faki Mahamat, as chairman of the AU Commission, taking over from Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who had been chairwoman of the commission since 2012.
Algerian ambassador Smail Chergui is the only ongoing AU Commission member to be re-elected chairman of the AU Peace and Security Commission.
