Posts falsely claim Djibouti foreign minister drops out of African Union race

With just weeks to go to the African Union (AU) election, posts circulating online are claiming Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf has withdrawn from the race for the chairmanship in support of Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga. However, the claim is false; the AU has not received a withdrawal letter from any of the candidates, while Youssouf confirmed he remains in the contest.

Youssouf, Odinga and Madagascar’s former foreign minister Richard Randriamandrato are the three candidates vying for the AU’s top seat (archived here).

On January 22, 2025, a post from an X account originating in Kenya claimed Youssouf had withdrawn from the race in favour of Odinga.

A screenshot of the false X post, taken on January 22, 2025

The same claim was repeated on X here and here.

Hours after the first claims started circulating on January 22, 2025, another post – designed to look like it was created by Kenya’s Nation newspaper – emerged, alleging Youssouf rejected a bribe worth six billion Kenyan shillings to step aside and back Odinga.

A screenshot of the false X post, taken on January 23, 2025

An X account parodying Youssouf repeated the claim in a post shared more than 2,000 times.

A screenshot of the false post from a parody account, taken on January 23, 2025

However, both claims are false.

Still in the running

Youssouf confirmed to AFP Fact Check on January 23, 2025, that he was still in the race, noting that “the rest is just propaganda”.

“The campaign is going very well. I am in Tanzania, and I have been very well received. I am still in the competition,” he said.

On the same day, Youssouf posted a similar message on X.

Additionally, AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo confirmed none of the three candidates had withdrawn from the race.

“We are unaware of a withdrawal from any of the existing candidates to the AU leadership election and any claims to the contrary should be treated as the unsubstantiated claims that they are,” Kalondo said.

Bribe post a hoax

Meanwhile, the Nation in Kenya rejected as “fake” a screenshot of a hoax claim attributed to the newspaper.

“Please be advised that this card doing rounds on social media is fake,” the Nation posted on X.

Asked by AFP Fact Check about the bribery claim, Youssouf dismissed it as “infighting among Kenyans”, adding that “their internal squabbles don’t concern me”.

The race for the AU chairmanship has been marred by misinformation since last year, ranging from claims about Odinga dropping out to South Africa’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa endorsing Youssouf (archived here).

The AU election is set for a secret vote in February 2025 in Addis Ababa (archived here).

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