With just a few days to go before the election of the Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), the Tshisekedi regime is intensifying its diplomatic manoeuvres to prevent Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo from securing a third term.
Having failed to drum up support for its candidate, Juliana Amato Lumumba, the incompetent regime is now exploring an alliance with Mauritania and Romania to rally opposition against Mushikiwabo.
Think about this: the regime is prepared to disregard the African Union’s collective position simply because its candidate was defeated before the results were even announced.
On July 28 and 29, 2026, the African Union Executive Council, meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopted a decision entitled “Decision on African Candidacies within the International System.” Following consultations with the three African female candidates, or their representatives, the Executive Council decided to endorse all three candidacies.
This was an important decision intended to strengthen Africa’s representation in international institutions. Rather than allowing competition among African candidates to undermine the continent’s interests, the African Union recognized all three candidates and left the final choice to the relevant electoral bodies.
Consequently, the 27 African countries that are members of the Francophonie are free to choose among the three African candidates.
Although this endorsement does not prevent countries from exercising their sovereign voting rights or engaging in diplomatic consultations, the spirit of the decision is clear: African representation in international leadership positions deserves collective support. In other words, should one of the three candidates emerge as the most likely to win, other African Union member states have a moral duty to rally around that candidate.
Kinshasa’s maneuvers to ally with Mauritania and Romania go against that spirit. Their objective is to mobilize support for a non-African candidate specifically to block an African candidate, a slap in the face to the African Union’s collective position.
For the first time in its history, the OIF is preparing to elect its Secretary-General through a competitive vote by member states, moving away from the traditional reliance on consensus.
This is an opportunity for the organization to demonstrate that leadership should be determined by candidates’ records, experience, programmes and the confidence of member states, rather than political pressure or bilateral disagreements.
Louise Mushikiwabo should be judged on her leadership since 2018, her achievements and her vision for the organization’s future, just as every other candidate should be assessed on their merits.
Ultimately, losing an election is part of democratic competition, but the Tshisekedi regime cannot help but keep embarrassing itself by undermining collective commitments just because it didn’t get its way. What a shame!
ellenkampire