There is something in Africa known as regional blocs, while Madagascar, Kenya, and Djibouti all fall under the AU’s Eastern Africa region, they belong to different regional blocs. The reason as to why Madagascar is also in the race, is the fact that, the country falls in the Eastern Africa region according to categorization by the Africa Union.
Madagascar is part of SADC, Kenya belongs to IGAD and EAC, while Djibouti is only in IGAD. It’s essential to note that voting at the AU is done by individual member states, not regional blocs. And it is by secret ballot.
However, SADC’s statement urging its members to support Madagascar reflects a strong effort to galvanize unity within the bloc—a characteristic SADC is well known for in AU politics. At the AU, regional classification is based on geographic & geopolitical division, not necessarily on membership in specific regional economic communities (RECs) like the EAC or SADC. It classifies Africa into five geographic regions: North, West, Central, Southern, and Eastern Africa;
The Eastern Africa region at the AU includes countries like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania Madagascar, Djibouti, Sudan, Seychelles, Comoros, Eritrea, and Djibouti which are geographically part of Eastern Africa but some like Comoros, Seychelles, Madagascar are not EAC members.
For instance, Burundi and the DRC, though members of the EAC, are categorized under the Central Africa region at the AU not Eastern Africa despite being members of the EAC. This means they wouldn’t be eligible to submit a candidate for the current race since this is an Eastern Africa region seat, not an EAC-specific position.
Tanzania also belongs to both EAC and SADC, however Tanzania is much closer to Kenya than to the Southern Africa regions. President Samia Suluhu had also pledged support for Raila Odinga and therefore, she is expected to vote for Kenya.
