By King’s Correspondents
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – Newly elected Commissioner for the African Union Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable environment, Moses Vilakati, had no easy road to the position.
It required passing through five rounds of vigorous examinations and embarking on a campaign trail with a Togolese galajane (campaign manager) to help penetrate and win over the votes from West Africa, where he (Vilakati) was little known.
His strategy also entailed avoiding the media to thwart any potential attempts to undermine his campaign. “This is why I kept away from you, the media, and worked behind the scenes, which helped tremendously as they could not keep track of my moves,” he disclosed.
Interviewed at the 38th African Union Ordinary Summit yesterday, Vilakati was full of praise for the support he received from His Majesty the King, Indlovukazi, government, as well as numerous supporters.
He unpacked the steps leading to his election as a Commissioner for the African Union Commission. This included sitting for examinations that had a 90 per cent pass mark for one to proceed to the next stage. Among the candidates were professors and doctorate degree holders.
He said once he had made it through the test phases, he was among the candidates to be placed in the ballot box for AU member countries to pick their choice. As with all elections, this required extensive campaigning and lobbying.
“I wish to thank all the companies and people who provided various forms of assistance to enable me to travel across the continent to mobile support. I am unable to disclose the exact cost as I have not yet tallied the expenses. However, this experience has highlighted the necessity of establishing a dedicated account to support future candidates seeking similar positions, as the lack of sufficient funds is a hindrance.
Vilakati specifically thanked Lambert Nyatane from Togo, who possesses extensive knowledge of the Western African region, for facilitating his meeting with the individuals whose votes held the most significance.
“The role he played is immeasurable. I don’t think I would have achieved the Western Africa votes if it were not for him. He is someone who knows the presidents and prime ministers of this region and helped arrange meetings with them.”
“I was surprised when meeting some of the leaders who expressed their love for the King, saying they know him as a leader with no enemies. They also marvel at the King’s ability to maintain a strong culture, which is slowly diminishing in their countries. They want him to come and share his secret with them,” he narrated.
In terms of the job profile, Vilakati explained that it is not a role of ‘AU minister for agriculture.’. He said it involves agriculture, community development, fish farming (blue economy), and a sustainable environment.
So what are the expectations of the position? To be considered successful, Vilakati and his team should significantly improve food self-sufficiency on the continent and reduce food imports.
“Africa spends about US$100 billion annually on food imports of all kinds. What we need to do is reach a stage where this food is produced in Africa. The COVID pandemic, which halted imports, taught us many valuable lessons. Then there was the war in Ukraine, which is the source of our wheat. We ran out of essential food that could be grown on the continent,” he explained. He believes that with strong support from financial institutions and the adoption of modern farming techniques like tunnel farming, we can mitigate the effects of climate change and prevent damage to the crops.
“We have the land, the water and the people to make this happen, so the goal is achievable,” he said.
