JUST IN: Amina Mohammed is not the AU Chairperson

Senegal politicians have been falling over themselves to congratulate Abdoulaye Bathily the special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Central Africa, after he won the elections to lead the African Union on Monday evening.

Bathily won massively against four others including Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed who became the last.

Bathily, the long-time Secretary-General of the Democratic League/Movement for the Labour Party (LD/MPT), served in the government of Senegal as Minister of the Environment from 1993 to 1998 and as Minister of Energy from 2000 to 2001. Later, he worked as a diplomat for the United Nations, and since 2014 he has been Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Central Africa.

Five candidates were competing for the top seat of the continental body. The new chairperson will take office on a four-year term replacing the South African politician Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who took the post in 2012. She did not seek re-election and is thought to be gunning for the presidency in her home country.

Zuma had admirers and critics in equal measure. She made history when she was elected the first female leader of the AU and did much to soften the image of the body which had until then been led by old men.