Kenya got the  continental body’s support in a secret ballot last week.

But Djibouti, which has been passed over three times, now says it will seek support from its friends at the world organization.

Somalia is believed to be behind the Djibouti move that has thrown the African Union into confusion.

Djibouti has powerful friends like the United States, China, France and  Japan who have military bases on its strategically-placed Red Sea port.

The question is will these countries also break with tradition and overrule the AU choice in the vote next June for the next East African country to fill a rotating seat on the UN powerhouse.

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It is not immediately clear how this will affect talks between the military junta and civilian groups on implementing a power-sharing deal.

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for what was billed a million-person march against the killing  of six people – four of them school pupils – demonstrating in the Red Sea city of El Obeid on Monday.

Then, as yesterday, the trigger-happy Rapid Support Forces are being blamed for using live ammunition against unarmed demonstrators.

Once again civilian groups are having to balance their desire to enter a power-sharing deal with their determination to hold the military junta accountable for the excesses by the security forces.

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The International Oganisation for Migration fears the death toll from the sinking of two crowded boats could be high higher.

Djibouti has become a major launch site for migrants, mainly from Ethiopia, heading for the Arabian peninsula.

Crossing the Red Sea is less considered hazardous than braving the Mediterranean which claimed six lives a day in 2018, according to a United Nations report.

This figure takes in launchings from Libya in the east and Morocco in the west.

Yesterday’s tragedy underlines the harsh reality that vast numbers of people are prepared to risk their lives and those of their families seeking economically more prosperous  and politically more peaceful futures away from Africa.

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