The African Union has outlined a programme of events which are set to culminate in the announcement of the new African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson, deputy chairperson and six commissioners for a four-year term.

The programme will begin at 10:30 am East African Time at the Nelson Mandela Hall in Addis Ababa with an opening ceremony followed by a speech from the outgoing AUC chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.

Thereafter, the head of government of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed is expected to welcome the heads of state as the host.

Also, the session will listen to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for five minutes before another speech of the secretary-general of the Arab league of states.

The session will also witness a speech by the President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas concerning the security situation in his country and the raging war with Israel which has led to a humanitarian crisis.

This will be followed by an opening statement by the current African Union chairperson Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani who is also the president of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

After the statements, there will be an announcement of the bureau of the Assembly of the African Union for the year 2025 and the chairperson of the African Union for the year 2025.

Handing over ceremony

This will be followed by a short handing over ceremony from Mauritania’s president Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani to Angola’s president João Lourenço who will be the AU chairperson for 2025.

The session will then launch the theme for the 38^th African Union summit for 2025 which is “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”.

After this launch, the session will break for coffee and other refreshments from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm.

This will be followed by a closed session in which the leadership of the African Union Commission (AUC) including the six commissioners will be determined.

After the conclusion of the closed sessions, AU summit will welcome the newly-elected heads of state including Joseph Nyumah Boakai, President of the Republic of Liberia, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, Duma Gideon Boko, President of the Republic of Botswana and Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius.

New heads of state

Other heads of state who will also give aspeech are John Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of the Republic of Mozambique and Mahamat Déby, President of the Republic of Chad.

Thereafter the session will adopt the agenda of the 38^th ordinary session and consider the items contained therein.

This will be followed by a luncheon organized by outgoing AUC chairperson Moussa Faki from 2:00 pm- 3:00 pm.

The closed session will then continue until 6:00 pm when Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed will host the visiting heads of state to a dinner