At least five Heads of State are expected to grace the unveiling of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson candidate on Tuesday in Nairobi ahead of the February 2025 elections.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had confirmed that all the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State had been invited to the occasion that will mark the official launch of Mr Odinga’s campaigns for the seat.
The EAC's membership consists of eight States including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republics of Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Kenya has purposed Mr Odinga’s candidacy to replace outgoing chair Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, to be that of the EAC and not just Kenya’s.
The points to the withdrawal of former Somalia Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzia Yusuf from the race and her subsequent backing of the former Prime Minister.
On Monday, the Nation established that EAC chair Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also the President of South Sudan, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, Samia Suluhu of Tanzania, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia as well as Burundi Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca and Rwanda Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe had confirmed their attendance of the ceremony which will take place at State House, Nairobi.
Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo, who accompanied Mr Odinga for the opening of the fifth World of Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (Festac) in Kisumu on Monday, is also expected to attend the ceremony.
Mr Obasanjo had flanked Mr Odinga during his declaration to run for the AUC post in February and has been instrumental in his campaigns.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said after the official launch of Mr Odinga's candidacy by President William Ruto , it will be all systems go and nothing will be left to chance to ensure Kenya clinches the seat.
“The President will not only be announcing to the Kenyan people but also significantly to the continent and the international community at large that the official candidate for Kenya in the AUC race is non other than Raila Amolo Odinga," said Mr Mudavadi.
According to insiders, during the launch the government and Mr Odinga's secretariat will be merged into one formidable unit.
There will also be the launch of his campaign website that was done by the government to help boost Mr Odinga's prospects.
Mr Mudavadi, who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, noted that the campaigns will be led by highly experienced and knowledgeable individuals to ensure a well-coordinated, targeted and result oriented output.
President Ruto is expected to name a team of strategists from the government side that will work jointly with Mr Odinga’s team at a joint secretariat already put up in Nairobi to enhance regional campaigns and shuttle diplomacy to secure Mr Odinga the AUC post.
Mr Odinga has already named his team which is composed of experienced diplomats including former Executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Mahboub Maalim, Kenya's former Ambassador to the United States Elkanah Odembo, Ambassador Anthony Okara as well as Prof Makau Mutua and former Nyeri Deputy Governor Dr Caroline Karugu.
Mr Mudavadi noted that focus would be on gaining more support and no ceding ground at any given point.
Mr Odinga’s campaign secretariat will be responsible for drafting all necessary briefs for the candidate, producing campaign materials, and arranging for a public debate to be broadcast live across Africa.
“Because largely these campaigns will call for foreign engagement, we will have to go full blast as soon as the official launch on Tuesday and naturally the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which I head will be very pivotal in undertaking this exercise” Mr Mudavadi said.
Mr Mudavadi said he would not give the figures regarding the country’s budget for the AUC campaigns, but confirmed financial obligations for the operations.
In Kenya’s previous failed bid to capture the AUC chairmanship, it spent Sh437.7 million in the campaign that was led by then Deputy President William Ruto, now the Head of State.
Data submitted to Parliament then showed that Sh437,776, 982 was spent in the campaigns, exceeding the set confidential expenditure by Sh52,095,299.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had earmarked Sh385,681,683 for expenditure linked to campaigns for the then Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed’s bid for the post in the year to June 2017.
"AUC campaign expenditure as captured in the initial working schedules, however, stood at Sh437,776,982 which differs from the certified amount by Sh52,095,299,” Mr Macharia Kamau, the then Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, told Parliament.
"This difference relates to the AUC campaigns conducted by the Deputy President and were initially charged under the AUC campaign funds, but were later transferred to State Visits expenditure," he added.
Ms Mohamed lost her bid to be the continent’s top diplomat to her Chad counterpart, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in the vote.
Mr Odinga is facing Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoud Youssouf, former Mauritius Foreign Minster Anil Kumarsingh Gayan and his former Madagascar counterpart Richard James Randriamandrato.
