Kenya inches closer to submitting AUC candidature for 2025 race » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 27 — Kenya is finalising preparation to submit its bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship ahead of elections slated for February 2025.
Kenya has settled on former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to succeed Moussa Faki who has held the position since March 2017.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei confirmed progress on the preparatory processes but did not disclose the status of submission.
“All-Set-Go,” Sing’Oei said Saturday when he shared a preview of two bundles in conitaing translations of Odinga’s documents.
Kenya had on June 5 said it would submit its bid by June 30, a timeline that has since lapsed.
The Foreign Affairs PS also did not divulge more details on whether Odinga who had recently threatened to back down from the AUC Chairmanship following the violent anti-government protests that rocked the country was committed to stay in the race.
Odinga’s team was yet to comment on the matter.
August 6 deadline
The deadline for the application for the AUC Chairmanship bid for any interested parties is August 6.
On June 5, Kenya announced the establishment of a campaign secretariat run by the State Department for Foreign Affairs to bolster Odinga’s chances of winning the AUC Chairperson slot.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi indicated that the team, including Odinga’s strategists, will assist the candidate in preparation for the high stakes election.
Mudavadi explained the team will prepare briefs for the candidate, develop campaign materials, and prepare for a televised debate among candidates.
Endorsements
Kenya has since received endorsement from a number of countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Zimbabwe and lately Algeria.
The endorsement from Algeria came after President William Ruto held discussions with Algerian President Tebboune Amadjid during the G7 meeting in Apulia, Italy.
“I have held a discussion with President Tebboune Amadjid, Algeria, on the sidelines of G7 meeting in Apulia, Italy, who has pledged support for Kenya’s Africa Union Commission chairmanship bid,” President Ruto said on June 14.
Odinga is competing against a number of candidates from the Eastern Africa bloc including jibouti’s Foreign Affairs minister Mahmoud Youssouf, Somalia’s former deputy prime minister and current member of the Federal Parliament, Fawzia Yusuf and Seychelles’ former Vice President Vincent Meriton for the continental post.
Recently there’s been talks of the intention of Tanzania to join the race for the AUC seat with former Foreign Minister January Makamba fronted as a likely candidate.
On July 22, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhi terminated the appointment of Makamba in a mini changes in her cabinet without providing reasosn for his removal.
Speaking on his candidature on June 5, Odinga said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the government’s decision to front him for the AUC chairmanship.
Odinga told reporters during a joint briefing with Prime Cabinet Secretary Mudavadi on the status of Kenya’s candidacy for the AUC post that the decision to run for the top seat at the continental body was personal.
He said he made the decisions after “lots of consultations and soul-searching” following persuasion by friends.
‘Pleasantly surprised’
Odinga, who bitterly rejected the outcome of the 2022 presidential election, said President William Ruto’s government reached out to him after his decision.
“The Kenya government did not ask me. I made a decision myself that I want to offer myself to serve the continent. You cannot run for this position without [being] sponsored by your country,” Odinga told reporters.
“I was [myself] pleasantly surprised that the Kenyan government said they will support me. I expected them to say no. I don’t know the reason why they said yes, that was their own decision, not mine,” he stated.
Weighing in on the matter PCS Mudavadi who also doubles up as the Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary said that the government decided to back Odinga because he was equal to the task.
He refuted claims that Ruto’s administration was working to lock the opposition leader of the 2027 State House contest.
“We said yes because Raila is qualified and we are looking at Kenya’s and Africa’s interest,” Mudavadi added.
The AU will apply the principle of inter-regional rotation in the election slated for February 2025, giving a chance to fourteen States in the Eastern bloc to produce the Commission Chairperson.
The Northern bloc will produce a Deputy Chairperson while Central, Southern, and Western regions submit at least two candidates (one female and one male) for the six Commissioner portfolios.
AUC comprises a Chairperson, a Deputy Chairperson, and six Commissioners.AU adopted the structure in 2021 following institutional reforms in November 2018.
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