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Zimbabwean eliminated from AfDB Presidential race

by Ndou Paul
28 May 2015 at 16:49hrs | Views
AfDB tweet on Sakala's elimination
Sadc-sponsored candidate Thomas Zondo Sakala who is a Zimbabwean has lost his bid to take over as African Development Bank (AfDB) President at today's elections in Ivory Coast's commercial capital of Abidjan.

The bank's governors are electing a successor to Rwandan Donald Kaberuka who is completing his second and final term on August 31.

Only three candidates are now in the hat for the top job.

Akinwumi Adesina (Nigeria), Cristina Duarte (Cape Verde) and Kordje Bedoumra (Chad).




For a candidate to assume control of the bank, he or she has to garner at least 50,01% of the total voting power of all the member States.

The candidate has to get at least 50,01% of the total votes of the regional (African) member states. Sakala will go into the polls with 14,298% of the total voting power in the bag by virtue of having the support of Sadc.

A candidate with the lowest votes in the first round will exit the race and his votes will be up for grabs by remaining candidates. This will depend on the relations between countries. In March Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said he had secured the support of some African countries in the event that their candidates were defeated in earlier rounds.

The voting power of a member country is on the basis of payment on account of capital subscriptions. Sakala has said that an AfDB under his leadership would be responsive during situations of fragility, emergency and conflict.

Past presidents: Mamoun Beheiry (Sudan) - November 1967 to August 1970; Abdelwahad Labidi (Tunisia) - August 1970 to May 1976; Kwame Donkor Fordwor (Ghana) - May 1976 to July 1979; Goodall Gondwe (Malawi) caretaker capacity - 1979-1980; Wila D Mungomba (Zambia) - June 1980 to May 1985; Omar Kabbaj (Morocco) - August 1995 to August 2005.

Source - Byo24News